


Winter's Child

by EndOfThePath_IStartedUsOn



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Brainwashing, Civil War Team Iron Man, Confused Tony Stark, Fury adopted Tony and Natasha for real, Hurt Tony Stark, Kid Tony Stark, Laura basically adopts Tony, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark are siblings, Not A Fix-It, Not Steve Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Recovery, Tony Stark/Laura Barton friendship, Tony-centric, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2018-11-04 15:36:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10993857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndOfThePath_IStartedUsOn/pseuds/EndOfThePath_IStartedUsOn
Summary: “I’m Tony Stark.” He’s looking into the mirror they brought into his room, staring at himself. There’s a picture in his hand, it’s supposed to be of him. But Tony finds it weird; the man in the picture is old, maybe mid to late forties, Tony himself looks like he’s only in his teen years. The picture shows a vibrant, lively man, but Tony looks empty. His face is blank and his eyes portray no emotion at all.T’Challa tells him it is because of whatever Hydra gave him that he looks like this now, and Tony believes him; he was with Hydra for almost three years, he knows how tricky and slippery they are. So there’s no doubt in his mind that they did this to him. That they changed him into this...child who can’t even remember anything about what seemed to be a pretty decent life. Regardless of the fact he got left to die.





	1. Chapter 1

Blaring alarms are what Asset wakes to. He can hear the agents hurrying by outside of his cell. They’re, from what he can gather, under attack.

Asset gets up and stands in front of the door, looking out into the hallway through the small window on his door. Asset was right; they are under attack; agents are running around, guns at the ready, yelling frantically. Many of them are looking towards Asset as they run past, their faces showing signs of desperation and fear; they want Asset to come out and help.

But Asset can’t; his door is still closed firmly shut. Handler obviously hasn’t given him permission to leave.

He remains where he is and watches as the agents scramble about.

Soon, after only maybe three minutes, Asset can see the flashing of guns firing. They’re close, just down the wide hallway. But no one has come to get Asset.

He is unable to do anything but watch as agents are shot down with a scream.

That’s when his door opens; after half of the agents in the hallway are shot down, no longer breathing. Handler is not there to greet him and give him weapons. No one is there besides the agents still remaining standing.

When Asset walks out he can practically feel the relief rolling off of the agents.

Asset takes the gun of the man closet to him and takes aim. Down the hall, taking cover behind a couple of corners, are two people. One is a small, petite woman with hair that practically shines with how bright and rich the red in it is. The other is a muscular man with sandy blonde hair, who seems taller than Asset. He wields a bow and arrow opposed to his partners’s simply chosen guns.

If Asset hadn’t been trained for it he wouldn’t have seen the tiniest looks of surprise on their faces before it was whisked away again. Asset doesn’t know if it was him in general or if it was his look; he’s thin and short and doesn’t actually look like he can do much. But he can, every target learns that soon enough. Always.

Over the top of his mask Asset can see the agents in front of him rushing to get out of their way, which is good; they all learned long ago that he has no problems going through agents to get to his intended targets.

The archer shoots. The arrow goes through his stomach. Asset does not make any move or show that the arrow at all hurt. The archer and the woman’s eyes widen as they see the wound close just as quickly as it had opened.

He hears one of them curse violently. He opens fire.

They scramble for cover quickly, trying to hide from the deadly accurate shots. One of them, he thinks the female, shouts for help over the blasts of the shots.

Asset stalks forward not once stopping his spray of bullets. He’s about to reach them when something slams into his chest. It manages to send him flying for a little bit and knocks his gun away. The two enemies are there, ready for him, and immediately start attacking.

The woman loses ammo quickly with every shot she misses, and the archer stops firing arrows, realizing how pointless it is while in such close proximity to his intended target. They are well trained, but are no match for Asset and his abilities.

Asset knocks them both down in a matter of seconds. He does not kill them; Handler may want to do something to them later on.

He hears a shout before something is slammed into his side. He hits the wall and quickly turns, just in time to see a strange red, white, and blue disk fly back to a man with a matching outfit.

Asset does not let that deter him; he rushes forward and tackles the man. Asset is so quick that he is already standing up and punching the man before he even realizes that he’s been tackled.

The punch sends the man skidding along the floor, though the man’s able to stumble into a standing position not long after.

He has good form, Asset will give him that. He seems experienced too, in the way that he’s waiting for Asset to make the first move, not just striking clumsily. Asset wonders how difficult it will be to defeat him.

He is not given the chance, however, since Handler comes rushing around the corner, gun in hand while agents run behind him.

“Stand down!” Handler orders. An explosion rocks the other half of the building. Asset ignores it and stands down, going to stand next to Handler, not taking his eyes off of the enemy. Colorful man only tenses more and takes a few steps back; he seems to realize he’s outnumbered right now. Handler looks to the man, “Captain Rogers, I see you have met our latest masterpiece.”

“Masterpiece? Apparently you don’t remember what happened to your last ‘masterpiece’.” The man sounds tough, brave, but Asset can see the confusion and anticipation around the man’s cowl.

He has something planned, Asset knows. He cannot tell Handler though; he is still not given permission to speak.

“Well, I have to admit that turned out horribly.” Handler says, “But fear not, for we have not made that mistake with Asset.”

The man raises his flying disk higher, “Oh really? So you haven’t turned an innocent into your personal flying monkey?”

Asset does not know what he means by that. Handler scoffs, “It’s not like anyone misses him anyways. Especially you.” The man goes to ask a question but Handler cuts him off, “If anything, him being here is your fault.”

“What do you mean?” His disk drops a little, but he only tenses further. Whatever he has planned will happen shortly. Asset can feel it.

Handler smirks, “That’s not really important, is it… Capsicle?” The man looks with wide eyes from Handler to Asset for a long moment; Handler’s choice of words clearly doing something to him.

Handler’s smirk only goes wider when the man’s eyes land on Asset, wet and shiny and filled with so much hope and guilt and regret, “Tony?”

Asset does not respond; he does not know who that is.

“He doesn’t answer to that anymore. He learned long ago to forget that name.” Handler says, still smirking brightly.

“But…. how?”

Asset does not hear what Handler says; he is too focused on what he hears behind him. There are multiple sets of footsteps, trying hard to be as silent as humanly possible. He hears the soft metallic click of a gun as someone shifts.

Without hesitating, Asset turns around, grabs the gun of one of the agents, and fires, all in a matter of seconds.

The shot is hastily blocked by a metal hand.

Everything goes to hell after that. Gun shots echo loudly in the large hallway. Agents from both sides started shouting as they are gunned down or beaten. The two agents from before are back in the fight as well, attacking with all they have.

Asset still hears the colorful man shout for Tony. Asset doesn’t know who that is so he continues on taking down agents.

Suddenly Asset freezes. He watches as Handler drops to the floor, a bullet hole through his neck. Handler looks up at Asset and gurgles out, “Run.” He dies on a choked breath.

It is an order.

Asset follows it.

He bursts out of the sea of people at top speed, leaving shouts behind. He is so much quicker than any of them, even the colorful man and metal armed man who seem to be the fastest of the rest.

Colorful man still shouts while the other man just runs. They are both determined to reach him though.

They are not fast enough. Not even close.

Asset loses sight of them the second he is outside; they were not nearly quick enough.

He does not know where he’s going, Handler didn’t say, so he just runs. He runs to the forest encircling the building and doesn’t stop.

He just runs and runs and runs.

 

*

 

He had lost them only after a day; there had been in a strange jet and he was still running, but his skills were still too good.

Still, Asset keeps going. Handler told him to run, that’s what he’s doing.

He’s been on the run for fourteen days now. And even with his enhanced body, that many days without his daily injections, he was shutting down.

Just yesterday he was hit with a very unfamiliar feeling: hunger. For nearly three years he never went hungry nor thirsty; that’s what the injections were for.

He doesn’t know where he is now, he just kept running. But he does know that he’s not in the same state. At the moment he’s walking out of another patch of woods into an open field. It’s large and lasts for miles.

After maybe a mile of walking he stops, there, about sixteen miles ahead, is a house. Asset is immediately suspicious and cautious; he does not know if this is a trap or not.

He walks on anyways. If someone is there, he can easily take them out and try to get food.

He stops when he’s maybe forty feet from the house. Children are outside, a boy who looks to be in his early teen years, a young girl of about ten, maybe older, and a very small boy, perhaps three but most likely younger.

The teen boy notices him first; he looks up from where he’s playing with the younger boy and immediately rises to his feet, “Lila get in the house!” The girl looks up from where she was playing hopscotch, “Grab Nate!” The girl-Lila- does as she’s ordered and runs into the house with the small boy-Nate. The oldest one looks at Asset with a glare, trying his hardest to be brave, “Who are you?”

Asset does not answer.

“What are you doing here? Our father isn’t home.” The boy spits the word father out like it hurts him. The teen cannot say more since a woman comes out. She is carrying a shotgun and looks pissed and worried and ready to open fire.

“Get in the house! Lock the door.” The teen does as told after a moment’s hesitation, slamming the door behind him. The woman is short with blonde hair and a thinness disillusioning firm muscles. She steps closer to him, gun raised, “Who are you and what the hell are you doing at my house?”

Asset still does not answer and instead starts shaking. The exhaustion and hunger and thirst from running are swinging at him with full power. He needs rest.

The woman must notice since her expression softens somewhat, “Are you alright?” When Asset offers no answer she continues, “Do you need help?”

Asset collapses. It’s all too much. Even standing still, not the constant moving, no adrenaline powering his moves, leaves him with absolutely no energy left.

He hears a shout before there is nothing.

 

*

 

Asset does not come to with a start; he can still feel the exhaustion blanketing him. He feels almost how he does after waking from The Chair.

Slowly, he opens his eyes as far as they’ll go, which isn’t very far. He finds that he’s in a sparsely decorated room. In there is a dresser, a desk with a matching chair, and the bed that he realizes he’s laying on.

Asset tries to sit up but soon finds that he is far too weak to do that. Instead he decides to just lay back down until he is strong enough.

As he lays there he tries to come up with a plan. He doesn’t. He is too lethargic to do so.

His eyes are drooping again when someone comes in. It’s the woman from before, she is carrying a plate of something and a cup of water, “Glad to see you’re awake Mr. Stark.”

Asset stares blankly at her, he does not know who Mr. Stark is.

The woman gives a sigh and offers a sympathetic smile, “It’s alright. I know you have no idea what’s going on.” She sets the plate and glass on the side table next to the bed and sits down next to Asset slowly, “I know what those bastards did to you.”

Asset stares up at her blankly, not even able to tense up away from her like he usually does when someone comes near; he’s too tired and too confused to do anything.

She smiles again and places a hand on his cheek-which Asset now realizes is maskless, “You look so young.” She whispers. She composes herself in the next instant and removes her hand, “I’m Laura Barton, you don’t remember but we’ve actually met before.” When she again gets no response she sighs, “I know none of this makes sense right now, but I promise you it will soon enough. You’re gonna stay here for a while-no but’s.” She stands and heads to the door, “You shout eat and drink, you need the nutrition.” With that she walks out the door.

Asset stares after her, hearing the click of a lock. Not like it matters; he can tell that he’s gonna be confined to this bed for a little while.

Dropping his head to the pillow again, Asset allows himself to close his eyes, falling into unawareness once more.

 

*

“-azed that he even survived for so long, were he a normal man he would have died only days in.” Asset does not know this voice. It is smooth with a strange accent that he can still hear through the layer of wall.

“But he’s not normal. … Not anymore.” Asset knows that voice. Laura sounds sad and angry, almost like Handler does when Handler gets information that he does not like.

“I know,” Accented voice sounds grave, “Are you positive that we should not call the team? His sister?”

“They’re the reason he’s like this. They’re not gonna help.” Laura’s words are sharp and angry. After a thin silence Asset hears Laura sigh, “I’m sorry.”

“Do not apologize Ms. Barton. You did not wish for any of this to happen. It is not your fault.”

“I know that. But because of Clint…” Her sentence trails off, “I have to help him.”

“I understand. I will do my uttermost best to help as well.” Accented voice says.

“Thank you.” Asset ignores the rest of the conversation, instead electing to try standing up. He is still very shaky and his stomach burns in pain, but he manages to stand up, leaning heavily on the bedside table. By the time he’s stood erect he’s breathing heavily. That is bad; he shouldn’t be that tired already from only standing up. He needs to rest. He knows this. But he can’t stay here, it is too dangerous.

Asset takes a tentative step. It doesn’t go well. The next thing he knows is that he’s flat on the floor and the door is bursting open, Laura and some man rushing in. Laura spots him immediately and moves to help him sit propped up against the wall, “Tony!” Asset resists and starts squirming and kicking away from her. He must leave. Laura is pulled away and the man is kneeling next to him, trying to contain his flailing limbs. Had Asset been stronger he’d have easily been able to fend the man off, but seeing as he was still incredibly weak, the man managed to contain his body in an embarrassing amount of time.

“Please, calm down. I do not wish for you to injure yourself.” Asset was correct in his assumption of the man being Accented Voice. The man is still whispering ‘comforting’ words at Asset, but he does not listen. He instead uses his immobile position to take a good look at the man. He’s wearing a finely pressed suit, much like the one’s Handler wore. He stands tall and proud, also like Handler. And his voice is sharp, commanding, everything that Handler’s was. That could only mean-

“Ready to comply.” Asset says at the same time Handler says, “Stay still.”

He is Handler, Asset does as told and stops moving, willing his trembling limbs to still.

Handler’s eyes go wide, as do Laura’s. They are filled with guilt and despair, but Asset does not know why. He has done as he was told, shouldn’t they be happy? They sit there for maybe seven minutes, just staring at Asset, Asset stares only ahead of him, awaiting his orders. Finally Handler speaks, “Ms. Barton, please go get something for him to eat.” He directs it at Laura while staring at Asset. Laura hesitates for a moment before nodding and heading out, the door closing gently behind her. Handler remains staring at him for a few moments longer, “What did they call you?”

“Asset,” He replies immediately.

Handler curses violently and he stands abruptly, scrubbing a hand down his face. When he turns to Asset again his eyes look broken and are red, “You are not Asset any longer.” He practically spits his name out, “You are Tony. Remember that. Tony.” He kneels directly in front of Tony, “What is your name?”

“Tony.” He answers.

Handler still looks strained, “Good. You will never go by Asset again. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Handler makes a choked sound again and pinches his nose. He can’t say anything else because Laura comes back in holding a plate. Handler looks at Laura then Asset, “Eat. Ms. Barton and I will be outside. Just remain in here and eat.”

The two leave and Tony does what he is told.

 

*

 

He has already been with Handler and Laura for three months.

They don’t call him Asset, they call him Tony. He is not allowed to call Handler Handler, he is T’Challa. He is not allowed to train, he is forced to spend hours of the day with them trying to remember someone named Tony Stark. They try to convince him that he is Tony Stark, but Tony does not believe them. He does not know why, but he cannot be Tony Stark.

He is not to be an asset at all anymore, they are teaching him to be ‘human’. Tony doesn’t know what they mean, but he is taught a lot of new things every day.

He never speaks, and Hand- T’Challa never asks for him to. They give him something to do and he does it, no questions asked. They try to get him to stop following orders, but he cannot help himself; it is in his programming.

Through all of this time he has been told to stay in his room, so when Laura and T’Challa come in saying that he is allowed out, he is a bit surprised. As soon as he steps out of the door he realizes that he has been in the top room of a house this whole time; he never opened the curtains and had no way of knowing previously.

Laura holds his hand as she leads him downstairs, T’Challa following behind closely. They lead him outside.

It is chilly but bright out, telling Tony that it is near winter. Laura makes him put on a jacket, gloves, and boots. Tony doesn’t care either way; the cold was never something he allowed to divert his attention.

“Do not go far,” T’Challa says, “You are to remain in the perimeter and do as you wish.”

Tony says nothing and only starts walking, heading to where an old, run down tractor is parked next to the barn. He is cautious and silent, ready for if T’Challa has a problem with it. But when Tony looks back, T’Challa only nods his head encouragingly and Laura smiles, so Tony touches the tractor.

The metal is cool under his touch, but Tony does not register it. He instead goes to look at it’s engine. He has to admit: for something as old as this tractor seems, it has a pretty decent engine. He takes some time to study it, developing ways in which he can improve it.

He tenses when he hear movement behind him, “I know the engine could be better, but, without Clint around, I can’t improve it much.” Tony turns. Standing there is the young teen he had seen when he first came to this house. He is wearing outer-gear much similar to Tony’s and is standing nervously yet bravely only a few feet from him.

Tony looks back at the house, but Laura and T’Challa are paying them no mind; they are instead playing with the two younger children he sees. Tony finds it odd for them to trust him with this young boy, but he does not question it.

“I’m Cooper, by the way.” The teen says. When Tony doesn’t respond Cooper looks at him, “Do you know yours?”

Reflexively he says, “Tony.”

The boy nods in what seems to be an approving manner, “That’s good. So, Tony, um… do you want to help me fix her?” He gestures to the tractor Tony is still touching. Again Tony doesn’t answer, he only nods. Cooper nods as well and cautiously makes his way over to the tractor. He stops just beside Tony, then, slowly, exposes the engine of the rusted machine.

They take nearly thirty minutes to start working next to each other relatively comfortably, but they finally get a hang of it and time flies in a blur of engine parts and Cooper’s voice telling him all about this and that.

It’s dark when T’Challa calls them inside. Instead of sending Tony to his room to eat, however, Laura allows him to sit at the table. He meets Lila and Nate officially and they seem to really like him for some reason, despite how dangerous and quiet he is. At dinner Cooper and Lila even manage to get him to smile with their antics.

If Tony were to be honest with himself, he’ll admit, he quite enjoys their company.

 

*

 

Tony finds it odd at how quickly Cooper opens up to him, any hints of shyness now disappeared into something akin to trust, and they’ve only been fixing things together for three weeks. Cooper speaks as if he has known Tony for years and needed only a few moments to reinstitute himself with him again. He speaks of many things, most of which involve inventions and electronics. So it is a surprise when their fixing Laura’s car and he suddenly says, “My dad caused this.”

Tony looks at him, confused, even with how much the boy speaks to him, he hardly speak back. Cooper heads on, “I mean, if you really think about it, it’s his fault in a lot of ways. If Clint hadn’t gotten involved for whatever known reason, then he wouldn’t have been there to help the others escape and you wouldn’t have gotten taken and he wouldn’t be gone for three years.”

Cooper remains silent for a minute, his eyes closed and hand clenched around a screwdriver, “When we heard that you went missing, we knew that it was because of them. We didn’t know how, but we did. Then, when T’Challa came, we finally got an answer: you had been left there. I don’t know if you remember, but Rogers and Barnes beat you to the brink of death, and then just left you there.

That’s how you were taken. According to some footage T’Challa had found, you weren’t even conscious when you were taken. And now, here you are, three years later, completely different... When I had first met you, I had to admit, you were old and loud. Now though… now you look closer to my age and barely speak.” Cooper throws the screwdriver to the ground violently, “And it’s still all their fault.”

Tony notices the tears the boy is holding back and is unsure of how to comfort him. He stands there, dumbstruck for a moment before standing behind him and awkwardly wrapping his arms around Cooper’s slim frame. Cooper tenses for a fraction before relaxing.

They stay like that for a while, Cooper leaning his weight against Tony’s solid chest more and more, until he’s practically held up solely by Tony. Tony had to admit: though the actions were uncomfortable, the trust Cooper was displaying was...nice.

When they part, they don’t speak anymore on that subject, just continue their work.

 

*

 

“They’re good for you,” Tony looks up from where he was staring out of his window, watching the sky. Laura stands in the doorway a soft smile stretched across her face, “I don’t know why we didn’t think of them before. I don’t know. Maybe I was a bit frightened at what you might do to them. But… seeing you with Cooper lately… he really seems to be helping you. You’re recovering quicker.”

“He is a good kid.” He says quietly, still not used to the right to speak freely.

“Yeah he is.” Her smile becomes sadder, “You’re good for him too, you know. Before you came,” She explains, “he was angry. When his father left, he couldn’t help but blame himself for it; he felt that he had done something wrong. Thankfully, later, that anger focused on Clint. Even now, he refuses to even say Dad-as I’m sure you noticed. It’s only Clint to him.

And with you now… I don’t know. He seems be gaining closure. He sees you and sees that we weren’t the only ones Clint screwed over. He even realised that, in comparison to you, what Clint did to us is nothing. And, in a way I think he sees you more as family now, with how he feels obligated to make things right with you…” She trails off for a little while.

Tony can’t help but ask, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you might not be the same Tony we knew, but you still mean so much to him...to us. Always remember that Tony: we don’t care if you can’t remember us, you still matter to us.”

Tony says nothing, only casts his eyes down for some reason, and Laura leaves, the door closing with a soft click behind her.

Tony feels...weird. There’s a strange feeling in his chest and a lump in his throat. Why would Laura trust him with such information? Isn’t something like your husband leaving your children supposed to be private? Held secret between only you and a few friends or family?

Does Laura consider them friends? Family? She said he meant so much to them, was she telling the truth?

Tony sees a flash of something. He sees Laura, she was younger, and was asking him to look at something.

Mr. Stark. Who is Mr. Stark?

She directed her question at him. Is he Mr. Stark? Is what they told him true?

Is he Tony Stark?

 

*

 

He remembers. He remembers he is Tony Stark. He is.

They showed him pictures. And he remembers.

He doesn’t remember anything else, only the fact that he is no doubt Tony Stark. He’s Tony Stark.

T’Challa and Laura are pleased about the fact that he knows who he is, even if he knows nothing else. They try other things to convince him of his past, but he does not believe them and he does not remember.

“I’m Tony Stark.” He’s looking into the mirror they brought into his room, staring at himself. There’s a picture in his hand, it’s supposed to be of him. But Tony finds it weird; the man in the picture is old, maybe mid to late forties, Tony himself looks like he’s only in his teen years. The picture shows a vibrant, lively man, but Tony looks empty. His face is blank and his eyes portray no emotion at all.

T’Challa tells him it is because of whatever Hydra gave him that he looks like this now, and Tony believes him; he was with Hydra for almost three years, he knows how tricky and slippery they are. So there’s no doubt in his mind that they did this to him. That they changed him into this...child who can’t even remember anything about what seemed to be a pretty decent life. Regardless of the fact he got left to die.

Tony is brought out of his thought when he hears something strange. It is a quiet sound, something a normal person would not hear, but he does. It is close to the house.

Tony steps away from the mirror and goes to look outside. His enhanced eyes immediately focus on a large blob getting closer. In the dark it is almost impossible to see, but Tony sees it. It looks like a large jet, and, as Tony gets a better look at it the closer it gets, he realises that it is the same jet he had seen when he had run from the Hydra base.

Tony runs.

He breaks his door open and races downstairs. Laura and T’Challa are there, cleaning the remnants of dinner, “Tony?” T’Challa asked, stepping over cautiously, “What is the matter?”

“Someone’s here.” He answers. He does not move again, he has reported his findings, T’Challa must now do something.

T’Challa and Laura share a look before T’Challa speaks, looking at Tony, “Go and wake the children, get them up to your room. Do not come down until you are told and do not attack anyone. Laura and I will deal with this. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Tony answers, very careful to leave out the ‘Sir’.

Without wasting any time, Tony rushes back up the stairs, reaching Nate’s and Lila’s rooms first, carefully pulling them from bed. He holds Nate is his arms and Lila’s hand as he gets Cooper up, “What’s going on?” The teen yawns, coming awake.

Tony doesn’t answer and instead pulls the children up to his room, fitting the door back in place after putting the kids on the bed. He ignores Cooper and Lila’s questions and instead closes most of his blinds, leaving one partially open so that he could still keep an eye out.

“Tony,” Said man turns to see Cooper and Lila staring at him, Nate still half asleep curled into his brother’s side. Cooper continues, “What’s going on?”

Tony speaks quietly, “Intruders.”

Cooper is immediately standing and shuffling over to Tony, “Is it Hydra?”

“No.”

They stand in silence after that, him and Cooper watching out the window and Lila on the bed still trying to keep Nate from falling asleep.

For minutes they stand there, Tony fighting every fiber in his bone to not go out and help T’Challa and Laura as they are approached.

Tony notices who they are when it’s too late; it’s the men and the woman from the base. Right as he realizes that, he hears both the front and back door being thrown open violently, then the thunder of dozens of steps coming up the stairs. With one last glance-and notices the trucks loads of people in black uniforms approaching, Tony quickly pushes Cooper into the closet, followed by Lila then Nate. It is not the most ideal spot but it is what Tony has at the moment with the limited room he was provided.

He’s just broken the doorknob off when his bedroom door is broken down, the walls shaking with the force of it.

One of the men from the base comes through; the man with the fascinating metal arm. At the moment however, it’s not too fascinating as it is used to grab his collar in a firm grip, “Stand down.” The man tries ordering as Tony starts squirming.

Tony kicks his leg out and hits the guy square in the chest, effectively dislodging the hand and Tony’s dropped to the floor. Immediately, he’s back up, attacking every agent in the room.

He doesn’t care if he wasn’t given the order; these people dared to put the kids in danger.

But he can’t stop them; there are far too many. Even more coming in through the window. He could beat them sure, but not without getting hurt in some kind of way-especially since metal-armed man keeps getting up-and the children need him to protect them.

He doesn’t know what’s going on outside, but he can guarantee that there are going to be more of these people coming in at this rate. There have to be nearly fifty of them cramped into this small room now.

He has to-

He isn’t given the chance to take action: he is tackled by at least six men at once. After nearly a full minute of his struggling, he is forced to the floor, flat on his stomach. There is a sharp pain in his back. Needle, his brain supplies. They have tried drugging him, but it will not work; Hydra has tried many times.

It’s never worked.

They seem to notice this as well. He is pushed down with more force and someone barks into their coms. They wait approximately eleven seconds before the windows are shattered. Tony hears almost a dozen metallic thumps and then everyone is off of him, rushing cover their faces in the thick material of their clothing. He is confused for all of a second before a smell floods his nose: sleeping gas. A strong one at that. And there are about twelve of them.

Before he even knows what’s happening, he’s swaying to the wall, just barely managing to clutch it. The sleeping agents are strong. Strong enough that, with the combined force of all of them, they are actually affecting him. His sight his blurry, his head fuzzy, his mouth tasting of cotton.

All too soon he is on the floor, unconscious.

 

*

 

He has been with them for three days. No one has given him any news, orders, or has demanded questions. The only other soul he has seen is the man that delivers and takes the food trays every day.

He has not eaten or drunken anything thus far; he doesn’t know who these people are, he doesn’t trust whatever is in the food. He hasn’t slept either and, having had a regular sleeping schedule with T’Challa and Laura, he already feels pretty tired.

There are no windows in this room-his cell. Only blank, bright, white walls. He is only gifted with a standard metal framed bed with thin sheets and one pillow, a desk and chair nailed to the floor, a weird picture thing that changes from a sunrise to mid-day to sundown and, finally, midnight. In the corner is a doorless frame that leads him into a very small bathroom with only a toilet, sink, and a shower.

The bathroom is the only thing he has used; Laura taught him long ago that hygiene is very important and he should always try to keep it up if he is given the opportunity. There are clothes in a pile next to the bed that he has been changing into. They are plain but they well, so doesn’t complain. At least there are some shoes with them.

He is huddled in the corner between the bed and desk when the door opens. He immediately tenses, ready to fight whoever comes through the door. “Tony!” His body nearly collapses in relief when Laura and T’Challa burst through, instantly making their way toward him. Laura starts running her hands over his body immediately, checking for injury, “Did they hurt you?” Tony shakes his head, glad that they are here now. Laura heaves a sigh of relief and pulls Tony to her, resting his head on her chest and wrapping her arms around his lithe body.

“Are you well?” T’Challa asks, resting a heavy hand on Tony’s shoulder. Tony nods in reply. T’Challa nods and stands, he holds out his hands to them both to take, “Come. We are leaving.” Laura disentangles from Tony after a quick kiss to his temple and takes T’Challa’s hand, Tony following suit, standing on shaking legs. T’Challa notices and wraps an arm around his shoulders, “Have you eaten?” Tony shakes his head. “Have you slept?” Another shake. T’Challa sighs but says soothingly, “That is alright. We are leaving and soon you may rest.”

No one is outside to stop them as they make their way out of the door, Tony heavily supported by T’Challa. Laura takes lead, walking briskly down the halls. They are expecting an attack, Tony soon realizes; they were not given permission to take Tony.

Tony feels so weak and useless as they hurry their way outside; he may be greatly enhanced, but he had gotten greatly used to Laura’s scheduled meals. It is odd though, to feel… human again. But Tony likes it. He is healing.

A jet is waiting for them, standing proudly against the darkening sky.

The kids are already in there. The moment they see Tony, they pounce. If not for T’Challa quickly going to steady them, they’d all have fallen. Slowly, he levers them onto one of the seats and goes to the cockpit, Laura following them.

“We must hurry,” T’Challa tells Laura, “They will be coming for us soon.”

“Where are we going to go?” Laura’s voice is shaky.

“...I know a place.”

With that, they’re off.

 

*

 

Wakanda is large and beautiful. The minute they touch down, the kids rush to the windows, mouths agape, staring in awe. Tony gets to the windows slower, quite weary of the foreign place. T’Challa assured them all that the country was perfectly safe and livable. ‘We should be safe here.’ He’d said.

Should.

They should be safe within the isolated country.

There is no guarantee.

Tony is extremely suspicious of that, but he does not dwell on it. He will just be ready for if-when-there is danger.

T’Challa hurds them out of the room, Laura grabbing Lila and Nate’s hands, ensuring they can’t rush off and get lost in this alien country. “Come quickly.” T’Challa says, leading them to a very large building. It’s huge and beautiful, just like the rest of the country.

“This place is amazing.” Cooper states, staring at everything with wide, curious eyes.

“Thank you, Cooper.” T’Challa says, “I am glad that you like it.”

“How long are we going to stay here?” Lila asks.

They’re already inside when T’Challa finally answers:

“Until I am positive Tony is safe.”

 

 

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait. Unfortunately I hadn't been able to repair my computer (stupid fat cats always dropping my stuff) and I had to buy a new one. I'm glad that I finally have a quick computer but this means that this story is gone and I'm pretty much having to start from scratch once again.
> 
> Let me know what you think of this chapter please. I'm honestly not too sure how I feel about this one.

He has a sister. He doesn’t remember her name or her face or her voice or...anything. But he knows he has one. He doesn’t know how he knows she’s his sister, but he does.

He’d been sitting by and watching the kids as they played in one of the many gardens when she’d popped into his head. He saw a blank face looking up at him. Anger and guilt and confusion and desperation had all radiated off of her. She’d been trying to persuade him to see something; he can tell from the way her body had been tense and demanding. Her mouth had opened but no words had followed through.

Yet words still echoed through his head:

 

‘I’m not the one who needs to watch their back.’

What does that mean? Was someone out to get him before all of this? Is that how he ended up with Hydra?

He should ask T’Challa or Laura about this, he knows, but...he doesn’t want to. He wants his memories back, sure. But he doesn’t want to go back to whatever life he’d had before this. He likes it here with Laura and T’Challa and the kids. And he knows that if he were to remember, then he would have to leave again.

He doesn’t want to leave.

He may not know who he is or what he was like, but he’s okay with that. He has no problem with not knowing who he was before this. According to Cooper, he’s like fifteen now. He has a whole life ahead of him. Why not make it great with the people he lo-

“Hey,” Laura’s standing above him, smiling softly. Tony’s sitting on one of the couches in the living room, staring out the large windows at the trees and sky. Apparently he got lost in thought.

“Hi,” He responds quietly.

Laura takes a seat next to him, snuggling in close. She presses something into his hands. When Tony looks, he sees that it’s a glass of juice. Something tickles in the back of his mind, “I don’t like being handed things.” He doesn’t know what it is, but he ignores it. Instead he accepts the glass and takes a sip, savouring the taste. He doesn’t press in closer to her, but he is glad she’s here. He’s tired but hasn’t been able to sleep, his mind too drawn to the woman he keeps picturing. He’s actually glad she’s here; she’s warm and her presence is comforting.

Laura lifts her hand and starts petting his head, “What’re you doing up? You were supposed to go to bed hours ago.” It’s late, really late, if the dead silence is anything to go by.

“I’m not actually fifteen you know.” He whispers. He remembers their lessons: he’s nearly three decades older than that. (Though that doesn’t really seem to matter anymore; he doesn’t grow any facial hair and-horribly-his voice has been cracking far too often. He may not remember much-anything-but he does still know what puberty is.)

Tony feels Laura’s smile as she kisses his forehead, “I know. Either way though, you need sleep.” She turns more into him, pressing his face into her neck. Tony gladly goes, comforted by her love, “Why’re you up?” She whispers.

“Do I have a sister?” His voice is near inaudible.

Laura tenses, her hand stilling where it had still been moving in his hair. Her voice is just as tight as her body when she speaks, “Yes. Yes you do.”

Tony pauses, takes a moment as dots connect: Laura is tense, worried, they’ve never mentioned a sister before, ‘I’m not the the that needs to watch their back.’ It suddenly all makes sense, “Is she the reason I’m like this?” He whispers. He should feel angry or sad. He doesn’t. From what he’s learned a lot of people have betrayed him. He honestly wouldn’t be surprised if his own sister did, too.

Laura sighs sadly and pulls back enough to look straight into his eyes, “She’s part of it. The people who took you-they were all apart of what happened to you.” Tony swears he can hear Laura’s voice wobble. They haven’t mentioned the kidnapping or the people responsible for it since then. It had been a month already- T’Challa had left two weeks ago to find answers about it- yet none of them had felt like talking about it. The only real thing they’d talked about was the kids and how they got out, and Tony remembers that conversation between T’Challa and Cooper with pride. ‘I had managed to cover our face with really thick winter coats and some pillows that were in there. It worked and we’d only gotten a bit lightheaded from waiting.’ And that was it. They’d all come to a silent agreement not to mention anything until T’Challa came back with news. Good or bad.

And now Tony understands why. If those people had been apart of what originally happened to Tony, and were still ruining his life in some way, Tony sees why Laura wouldn’t want to talk about it. It must be hard for her as it is with dealing with those people’s first mistakes.

Her body’s strung taut, and Tony feels bad, but he’s getting answers. He wants more.

“Who are they?” Since he’d been taken to Wakanda that question had been nagging him.

Laura lets out a sad sigh and sits up straighter, nudging Tony away enough to look fully at his face, “I need you to listen to me carefully, alright, sweetheart?” Tony nods and fights back a blush, “I know it still doesn’t make a lot of sense right now, but when you’re better I promise it will.” Laura takes a deep breath and begins, “The people who...tried to take you from us are called The Avengers. They are dangerous and powerful. They have the whole world defending them again.” Laura lets out a sad sigh, “I don’t know why they took you, or what they think you did, but they have always and will always consider you dangerous. In all honesty you are the only one in this world who can stop them, regardless of the fact that you don’t even remember them… They aren’t bad people. I promise Tony, they’re not. But-the fallout before you were...changed really changed their view on you. As of right now you are a threat to them and we need to keep you safe.

We are safe here. For now. I don’t know how long we will be, but we are. That’s what T’Challa left to find out. He has enough power to talk directly with The Avengers and-hopefully-he can convince them that you are not a threat. But for now-until we are given news otherwise-we are safe here and all of us will work as hard as we possibly can to protect you. You are too important to us to lose.” She says it with such finality that Tony has no other choice than to believe all that she says. Her voice drops to a harsher whisper, a promise, when she next speaks. “I will always keep you safe. From anyone who dares take you away from me.”

Tony only nods, not at all trusting his voice not to crack-this time not because he seems to be going through puberty. Pressing his face back into Laura’s neck, Tony allows her to press him closer again and closes his eyes. They remain like that for a long time.

Tony’s voice is soft with sleep when he finally speaks, “Is… Is Clint-Is he an Avenger?” He has to ask. Cooper may have mentioned that Clint is one of the people to blame for all of this, but he needs the confirmation.

Laura tenses once more and Tony feels guilty; she’d gotten so relaxed. Her voice is near inaudible when she responds, “...Yes.”

He feels so bad and doesn’t want to hurt her...but he has to know, “And my sister…”

That’s when Laura loses it. Before Tony even knows what’s happening he’s being pressed impossibly closer to her and a face fis being pushed into his hair. Laura shakes wildly as painful sobs escape out of her throat.

Guilt wells up in Tony’s chest. Laura’s so strong and has been so brave and amazing through all of this time, and Tony will always admire her strength. He should have known that she was just holding it all in. No one can suffer as much as she has and not come out of it unscathed. It was only a matter of time before it all came crumbling in on her.

“I’m so sorry.” Laura’s voice breaks and she kisses Tony’s head again.

They don’t speak anymore that night and instead end of falling asleep with Tony still preciously cradled in Laura’s arms.

And if Tony had left out a few tears of his own? Well… no one had to know about that.

 

*

 

Tony wakes up to warmth. Opening his eyes Tony immediately spots Nate pressed against his right, the tots mouth firmly latched onto Tony’s shirt sleeve. Tony makes a face but does not push the boy off. Turning his head Tony sees Lila draped over his back, drool slipping out onto his neck. Well, that explains the tiny foot that’s planted itself into his back. She’s dead weight and Tony doesn’t have the heart to move either her of Nate even though he really has to use the restroom and his neck is now itchy.

“Hey.” A voice whispers from the left. Turning his head Tony sees Cooper seated on his bed, his back pressed against the headboard, tablet in hand. He looks tired, Tony notes. Almost like he’s been up all night.

“Hi.” Tony offer back. Tony opens his mouth to speak again when Cooper cuts him off-

“You had a nightmare. Mom heard you and called us in when you wouldn’t calm down. She just went to make breakfast.” Cooper says.

Tony takes a moment to process it; it explains why Cooper looks so tired. Cooper-all of them-had developed a very protective streak over Tony. Tony’s positive that the other boy-no that THE boy- stayed up making sure he was okay. He feels bad again, “Sorry.” He whispers.

“Don’t be.” Cooper responds quietly, “You’ve been through a lot. I’d be surprised if you didn’t have any nightmares.” He sets his tablet down on the side table and slides down the bed until his eyes are level with Tony’s. Rolling onto his side, Cooper throws his arm around Tony’s shoulders-mindful of Lila- and scoots closer until Cooper’s fully pressed against Tony’s left side. “Never be sorry about what happened to you.” Cooper whispers, closing his eyes.

Tony hesitates before speaking, “Thank you.” Cooper opens his eyes and stares at Tony, confusion evident. Tony explains, “You’ve done so much for me. And you didn’t even have to. I feel safe and...loved. By all of you. I just… thank you.”

Cooper brings his right hand up and cups Tony’s cheek, forcing him to look into his eyes, “Tony I will always help you. You’re right. We didn’t have to. But we wanted to. You mean so much to us Tony. And you always will.” Cooper rests his forehead on Tony’s and looks straight into his eyes as he speaks in a strong, steady voice, “You’re my brother. I will always help you.”

Tony freely cries this time, not at all upset that he wakes the other two.

 

*

 

Tony’s taken to teaching Cooper to defend himself. T’Challa’s been gone for five weeks now and have yet to hear anything-Tony’s only preparing him and everyone else for the worst.

The gym is large and spacious so Tony has plenty of room to move freely. Cooper says that with all of the available space and Tony’s skill, it looks like Tony’s in the middle of a glorious dance when he shows Cooper a new move.

He doesn’t use Hydra’s rigorous ways of teaching. Instead he makes his own up. To begin with, they had practiced on the punching bag, Tony making sure that Cooper had the right forms in order to perform a perfect punch and kick. After that Tony coaxed him into practicing hitting Tony. Cooper had been understandably hesitant at first, but after a few days of doing it, had warmed up to the idea of needing to do it a bit more and had even admitted that it was better practice to have a moving target who could actually give him a challenge.

Once Cooper had gotten the basic fighting styles down Tony moved them onto the actual work out machines. Muscle built and much stronger, Tony went into the more vigorous movements. He taught him how to defend himself, how to gain the upper hand, how to remain the underdog then surprising everyone when he’d inevitably come out on top.

He taught him how to keep himself safe.

Now, with three weeks of training, Cooper was fairly decent. His muscles had really grown and were standing out starkly. He can’t run at all as well as Tony, but he’s gotten much better and can go on at a sprint for a long time period-far longer than he had been able to before. And he may not be the best at fighting, but he’d obviously been paying attention and is quick and light on his feet when they spar.

All in all Tony’s extremely proud of what he’s accomplished. The other two are too young to learn to fight, but with Cooper and Tony able to protect them, Tony knows his siblings will remain safe.

 

*

T’Challa comes home after a month and a half of being away. Laura’s face is hopeful for any good news, but Tony doesn’t raise his hopes high. Before T’Challa had even come in Tony had seen him through the window and saw the grief on the King’s face-and isn’t that odd, T’Challa’s a king.

Whatever news he had, it wasn’t anything good.

“T’Challa!” Lila screeches and rushes to him, wrapping her arms around him in a fierce hug.

“Hello, dear.” T’Challa smiles at her. When he smiles, it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. But Tony doesn’t say anything aloud and allows T’Challa to keep up the charade for the sake of the children. He fears for the conversation that he and Laura will have when they inevitably kick the kids out of the room.

T’Challa proceeds to greet everyone in the room, chatting and listening to Lila’s and Nate’s stories, to Cooper explaining his workout regimen with Tony, to Laura just talking about their stay so far in general.

Tony doesn’t say anything, just waits for the other shoe to drop.

Finally, after nearly an hour of talking, T’Challa says, “Children, if you could please busy yourselves with further activities for a little while. I must speak with your mother and Tony in private.” They leave, if a bit reluctantly, and T’Challa turns to the two remaining, Laura seated close to him and Tony still hovering nearby. T’Challa’s face is immediately replaced by an expression of pure seriousness.

“You both know I left in the hopes to find answers regarding your...kidnapping. And I did get answers. Only… what I found was far sadder than what I could have ever imagined. You know of the Avengers now, I presume?” Tony nods, “Very well. However, what you do not yet know is that you were one of them. An Avenger. They are not bad people, I promise. They are merely misguided. But misguided as they are, they are highly dangerous and loose. Near unpredictable. But remember this; you are none of these. You are smart and strategical and you always advised others before making a decision that affects the lives of your peers. You are a hero, despite what many originally chose to believe.

Unfortunately...despite these attributes, you were allows a threat to these people. You have money, strength, intelligence. Power. I believe that, if you so choose-though I sincerely hope you do not-you could take the world in a single eve. By your lonesome. Honestly that is quite possibly the reason for which you you were feared so and, despite all that you have proven of yourself, you are feared still to this day.” T’Challa sighs and stands up. He rubs the back of his neck as he begins to pace. “There was a fallout. With you and the Avengers. I will not go into all of the details now. But know this,” He stands in front of Tony and looks him in the eyes, “You all fought-we all fought- and you were… you were left to die in one of Hydra’s previously vacated bunkers. You could not move and you were gravely injured. I fear that’s how Hydra grabbed you; you were unable to fend them off. You were helpless.” Tears start to slowly roll down the king’s cheeks, but Tony refuses to shed any. He’s never seen the man cry and he wants to make it all stop. But he can’t. He needs to hear this all out. “I...I was there. Through it all. I witnessed the conflict, I participated in one of the gruesome battles. I was present as you were almost beaten to death. I did not see the whole fight, but I did nothing to stop it while I was there. I had not even questioned it when the two who you fought with walked out without you. In fact, I am ashamed to admit that I aided them. I flew them here, to Wakanda, and housed them and the others for nearly a year. They were allowed to go back to the United States. But only because you were not there. I only noticed you absense far too late.

I hadn’t even realized you still were not back until four months after your fight, when you had not showed up to a very important meeting regarding you and the Avengers team. And by that time near everyone had given up on your search. You were believed to be dead.” T’Challa pauses to take a deep breath and wipe his face. Tony doesn’t even bother wiping his. “This is why you were taken by them. They thought you dead for almost three years. When you suddenly popped back onto their radars after some time, they panicked and thought you were...confining all of us to the house. They believed...they believed you were going to harm us.” T’Challa reaches for him, but Tony flinches away. He can’t help it. He was apart of it. This whole time Tony had been blaming solely Hydra. And, more recently, The Avengers. But T’Challa? The man who helped him, who’s done so much for him, the one he was ready to admit wanting to call Da-

What else was Tony supposed to do?

Laura is suddenly behind Tony, pulling him into a fierce hug. She is crying too, Tony realizes. Shamefully, Tony admits he’s glad; at least one of them was honest with him. At least one of them was on his side.

“Tony. Please. Do not let this affect what we have built up. Do not let this destroy everything. You mean so much to me. I am so sorry that I was not honest with you. And I am so sorry that I am a part of the reasons for which you are so… so damaged. I was so naive and...stupid then I had never expected this to happen to you. To anyone.” with Laura holding him tight, Tony doesn’t flinch away when T’Challa rests his hand on his shoulder. Blurry brown eyes look up into T’Challa’s, just as glazed as his own, “I promise Tony, if I could, I would go back and erase all of the pain you have suffered. All of it. I must admit, however, I would be saddened to forget this you. You are not burdened with the world, now. You are young and alive and so carefree. You are not haunted by previous lies and betrayals. You are...You are mine.”

Tony chokes on a sob and holds his arm out, indicating T’Challa forward. The king practically sags with relief as he pulls both Laura and Tony close.

It’s not alright, it may never be. But at least now Tony has something he thought he’d never have.

Answers.

 

*

 

Things are tense for three days after that. The three of them spent most of that time talking, mainly T’Challa and Laura giving Tony the history of him and The Avengers. Tony doesn’t have any actually memories to go along with all of the information he is given, but now at least he knows what happened to him.

After maybe the fifth hour of lessons on that second day, Laura calls the other kids in and they go about explaining it all to them. Cooper hits T’Challa in the face and threatens to dismember him should he ever hold something as vital as that from any of them again, but other than that the others take it surprisingly well. Tony admits he still feels something clench in his chest from the protectiveness Cooper and the others have over him. He doesn’t even know why; he’s been with these people for however long now. They’re his family. It shouldn’t feel so...foreign to him.

But after all of it-the explanations, future plans-life moves on. T’Challa wants Tony to meet with the Avengers-his sister, Natasha, mainly-and their new main benefactor, SHIELD, but Tony doesn’t agree right away. What would he say to those people?

Laura and T’Challa feel that it’s a good idea for Tony to (re)meet them. They believe that, given time, Tony could rekindle a friendship with his once team mates and his sister. Tony and the other children don’t think so. Lila and Nate may not be able to completely follow what’s going on, but they do know that these are the people that hurt one of their big brothers-lord, Tony’s chest still aches whenever he hears that. They spend another four days debating over it.

Eventually, Tony gets tired of all of the talking and debating and makes his way down to the gym. Unsurprisingly, Cooper follows him down. They don’t say anything for that first hour, just concentrate on their sparring.

Cooper speaks up soon though, grunting as he dodges one of Tony’s kicks, “I think you should do it.”

Tony falters and stops, staring at the panting, exhausted Cooper who stubbornly looks into Tony’s eyes. Tony looks back at him and steadily asks, “Why?”

Cooper sighs and inhales a shaky breath, “Because,” He pants, “I would want to know. I mean- I have no idea what you’re going through right now, and I hope I never will, but doesn’t it eat at you? The desire to get all of the answers you’ve been searching for. And not just whatever T’Challa’s told you because I know you know that he doesn’t have all of the information. He can’t even tell you what happened exactly in Siberia. Only that he saw you guys fighting.” Cooper finally gets his breathing under control and stands up straight, striding over to Tony and stopping in front of him. “Meeting your sister… you might actually get answers. Real answers. Not second hand ones.”

Tony thinks about it. T’Challa and Laura had only been able to tell him so much and even then the information was either based on what was on the news, what was told to them, and the brief glimpses of what they had personally seen too. Meaning, there weren’t too many in depth answers, just vague descriptions. If he did go to see his sister and The Avengers...he may actually get it all. Assuming of course they still don’t want to arrest him (T’Challa may have said they were just confused, but Tony still doesn’t trust it).

It’s so alluring to just go and learn it all. To go and remember it all. But- “I’ll have to leave.” He blurts quietly.

Cooper looks taken back, “What? Leave?”

“I might remember and then I’ll have to leave won’t I? I’ll have to stay with them and make everything better.” Tony explains softly.

“No, Tony.” Cooper says sharply. Tony jumps back slightly, “You will never have to leave us if you don’t want to. No one is going to force you to do anything, though. You are free to do what you wish. But, if you do go to them and you do remember...it’ll still be your choice. We just want to give you back everything that was taken from you. And if then you want to stay with them instead, we’ll understand. We really will. But it will always be your choice and your’s alone. We’re just here to help you get there.”

Tony looks down at his feet, kicking his shoe against the mats beneath his feet. They stay silent for awhile with Tony thinking, before Cooper finally speaks ago,

“What do you want to do? Stay here and wait and see if you remember? Or go there and see if they can help you along?” Cooper asks softly.

He doesn’t answer for a long while. Contemplating.

Tony looks straight at Cooper as he says, “I want to remember.”

 

*

 

Almost immediately the two boys go up to talk to Laura and T’Challa to announce Tony’s decision. Tony doesn’t say anything the whole time and allows Cooper to do all of the talking for him. He feels safe with Cooper doing it. It’s final that way.

There’s no backing out of it now.

Laura walks over to Tony and rests a hand on his shoulder. She smiles when he looks up her and he can’t help but smile back, “Are you sure, sweetheart?”

Tony swallows and nods, “I’m sure.”

“This is good news, Tony.” T’Challa speaks, “What has made you come to a decision?”

Tony looks at Cooper then and sees the same fear reflecting in his eyes. The fear that Tony may be leaving them soon. Tony answers honestly:

“Fear.”

 

*

They leave the next day on the same jet they used to get to Wakanda. T’Challa had made a call the evening before, letting The Avengers know of their arrival.

Tony feels his hands shake as he clicks the seat belt shut across his body, but doesn’t do anything. He just silently watches on as the rest of them get themselves situated. He can’t help a small smile though, when Laura has to pretty much wrestle and excited Nate just so the toddler would stay in his chair.

That’s the difference between him, Cooper and the youngest two: they want to go back to the states. They want to go home. Cooper and him fear for it; they don’t know where it will go from there.

Depending on how it all goes, Tony may not be returning to their home with them.

Cooper and Tony hadn’t expressed those fears last night though. They had announced it, spoke for a while, and that was that. They didn’t want to say anything until they knew what Tony’s fate would be. They didn’t have the hearts to disappoint their siblings.

So Tony firmly kept his mouth shut as T’Challa got the jet up in the air. He kept his mouth shut and savoured the sounds of rowdy children the whole ride there. He kept his mouth shut and enjoyed their presence.

He keeps his mouth shut as they land at Avengers’ Compound.

 

 

…

 

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I really want to thank izumi2 and FarAwayInWonderland because they pointed out some major errors in my taggings that has already led people to draw the wrong conclusions to this story. I apologize for them but I promise that I will fix it the moment I can. Just please know that these two readers are who should be thanked for that.
> 
> 2\. As I mentioned, the tags convinced of a different direction this story would have gone. I am sorry. But please, PLEASE know this: Winter's Child is NOT a fix-it story. I have no idea if I'll make this a series and have it eventually turn into one, but this story is NOT one. Previous actions may have suggested otherwise, but it is not.
> 
> 3\. Again, my tagging is bad, I'm newer to this. I am sorry for not including that Natasha is Tony's sister. However, I have received a couple of fairly rude comments reguarding that particular twist, and I want to say it now: this story is a creation of my visions from the movies. I always saw Natasha having a sister-ly protective feeling over Tony up until Civil War. So, I have branched it out in this story. 
> 
> 4\. This is a short chapter, I'm sorry, but I have been extremely busy at work trying to get a promotion and my priorities shifted. I promise that I will make up for in the next chapter.
> 
> 5\. Thank you to all that have commented on this story and I am sorry if I could not respond to your comments. I have read them all, I promise you that, but there are too many of them for me to comment on them all. If you want a response, I typically respond to the first few.
> 
> Now the story...

In this moment, walking down the ramp of the grounded jet, Tony is grateful for but one thing Hydra forced on him: he can easily hide any and all emotions should he so choose. Not excluding fear and nerves.

If he were to let it all out right now, allow every feeling to show, Tony knows his body would be a shaking, trembling mess. He’s scared. He’s terrified. He knows now that he needs to meet with these people; he knows he has to face them one and one. That’s the only way he’ll get the answers to all of his questions. But that fact doesn’t make it any easier.

These are the people that did...this to him. They’re the reasons he’s damaged and they’re the reasons that they have to have this stupid meeting in the first place.

Honestly, if Tony could choose, he’d have stayed home with his family and lived the remainder of his life without ever getting the answers he needs.

But he can’t. He needs to hear them. He has to stay and he has to listen.

He squeezes Laura’s hand painfully tight as they walk, but Tony can’t bring himself to feel bad about it with every grimace that crosses her face. He needs her presence. He needs the constant that is her own grip to reassure himself that he is not alone. He has people backing him up. His family.

They walk in a firm line towards the large building. Cooper and the other two kids are on Laura’s right, holding each other’s hands, slowly, cautiously making their way over the large lawn.

There is only one person waiting for them outside. He’s not an overly tall man but he’s taller than Tony and wears an eyepatch. And Tony doesn’t see an inch of clothing that isn’t leather on him. Quite frankly he’s intimidating.

His arms are clasped behind his back but Tony can see the many weapons ‘hidden’ on his person. As they get closer he brings his hands to his front to show they’re empty and starts making his way over toward them.

They all stop about five feet about. The man is looking at Tony but speaks to T’Challa, “Your highness. Thank you for coming.”

“Do not thank me.” T’Challa says, “It was Anthony’s final decision that brought us here.” Tony hasn’t heard his full name from the man before, but it sounds surprisingly nice.

The man addresses Tony, “Tony. I’m Nick Fury. I know you don’t remember me, but we go way back. Thank you for giving my team an opportunity to explain their actions.” Nick holds out his right hand for Tony to shake. Tony looks at T’Challa. When he receives a nod, he hesitantly releases Laura’s hand and grasps Nick’s.

“Nice to meet you.” He says quietly.

Nick nods and releases his hand quickly, most likely sensing the discomfort Tony has brought forth by touching the hand. “You too, Tony.” Nick took a breath, “If it’s alright with you, Tony, there are a few people who would love to see you before The Avengers. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but they really want to see you.”

Tony thinks for a moment and looks to Cooper. The look on his brother’s face is encouraging. Tony turns back to Nick and nods, “Okay.”

Nick gives a small, barely there smile and turns, gesturing his arm to a separate door than what they were headed to, “After you.”

Feeling a hand in his own, Tony turns and finds T’Challa standing there, smiling softly, “Come. We shall go together.” Tony nods again and they begin to walk, Nick and the others following behind them.

They are lead to a door just off to the side of the main entrance; one that isn’t exactly hidden but not really obvious either.

Nick enters first, holding the door open for the rest, then leading them the rest of the way inside.

Tony stops when they come into what has to be a living room.

Five pairs of eyes stare back at him, all wide and disbelieving. The one closest to them is a tall, beautiful red headed woman wearing an offset white suit with long, sharp heels to go with it. She looks as if she’d be intimidating any other time but not at the moment: her hair is sloppy and drooping from her ponytail, her suit is crinkled from where she’d obviously been running her hands along it, and her eyes are wet and red rimmed. Quite honestly Tony believes she has seen better days. An older man-maybe late forties-rests in a wheelchair beside her. He too looks tired and wrung out, and completely disbelieving, but he is more composed than the woman is. His eyes are sharp and bright, but they are also soft, holding something akin to relief and despair. Whoever this man is, he has obviously known Tony longer than the rest-already, Tony feels something stir in the back of his mind.

Recognition?

Further back, seated upon a couch, are two men. One is beefy and proud, most likely a security personnel. His back is rigid and his hands clench at his sides, but when Tony looks into his eyes he sees pity, anger, and relief all pushed in. The second ‘man’ can’t be more than twenty: he is skinny and short and his eyes are still bright and fresh. Despite his thinness, Tony can clearly see well defined muscle beneath his t-shirt. His eyes dance around the room every so often, as if checking for threats before they always settle back on Tony, wide and shiny. One word comes to mind when Tony sees the kid: ‘Spider.’

He doesn’t know what it means but Tony leaves it be.

The last person is another man, older yet still lively. His hair is brown and his eyes are full of sorrow behind a facade of calm but when he spots Tony he has the same look Laura and T’Challa get whenever they sees him: promise. Protectiveness practically pours off of him in waves, encasing Tony and allowing him to relax minutely. His no doubt once pristine suit is rumpled slightly; no doubt from him having ran his hands down it.

They look like friends. Protectors. People who would always remain with Tony, just like T’Challa and Laura and the kids, all radiating an aura of protection.

Tony remains silent and waits for them to speak.

It is the kid who does it: “Oh shit. Mr. Stark? Is that really you?”

“Yes.” Tony answers quietly. Awkwardly, Tony waves hi to the rest of them.

This seems to break some sort of barrier and they all break out of their trance, quickly going over to Tony, some in a more professional, controlled way, the others pretty much lunging. Immediately they all start to fuss over him;

“Tony. Oh my god-”

“Thank goodness-”

“-See you boss.”

“Mr. Stark-”

“Tony-”

They’re all so happy and relieved and Tony doesn’t want to ruin it but he can’t- it’s too much- he doesn’t remember-

“Please.” He whispers. It all goes quiet at once and they all step back from him, including Laura, giving him space to breathe. He looks down at his sneakers, “I’m-I’m sorry-I can’t-I don’t-I don’t know.”

“Hey it’s alright, Sweetheart,” Laura says, pulling him into a warm, fierce hug. “There’s no need to be sorry. It’s alright if you don’t remember right now. It’s okay.” She presses a kiss to his temple and pulls back to look at him, her hands warm on the side of his face, “How about this: they’ll all go around and introduce themselves and maybe share some information with you. Is that alright?”

Tony nods.

And that’s how he meets James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Peter Parker, and Agent Phillip Coulson. Or, as the world knows them: Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, CEO Pepper Potts, Mr. Hogan, Spider-Man, and Director Coulson.

This is how they say he knows them: Rhodey, Pepper, Happy, Kid, and Agent.

Something stirs in the back of Tony’s mind as they explain their relations to Tony, but he doesn’t dwell on it just yet, wanting to hear them all out. It’s Rhodey’s and Peter’s stories that seem to really effect him.

When Rhodey speaks and tells him of how he met Tony when he really was a teen and how he’s stuck by him ever since and then continues on up until Tony’s kidnapping, Tony feels guilty. This man was his best friend, stuck to his side for more than thirty years. But Tony paralyzed him. He doesn’t care that both T’Challa and Rhodey say that it’s not his fault. It is. If he hadn’t gotten into that fight, then Rhodey wouldn’t have followed him and he’d still have his legs, his job. His independence.

Peter’s story really does something to Tony’s chest: it gets tight and hard to breathe. Guilt bubbles hard within him at hearing that he brought a child into a fight between dangerous people. He pulled a child into a mess that had absolutely nothing to do with him. He took away his childhood and forced him to be an adult for no reason. And now, because of what Tony plunged him into, he’s been fighting since.

Before he even knows what’s happening, arms are wrapped around his chest from the back, someone’s chest purposefully pressed to his back so he can feel their breathing.

He expects it to be Laura or T’Challa or even Cooper. It’s not. It’s Peter. “That’s it, Mr. Stark. Just breathe. In. Out.”

Tony wants to pull away, tell Peter to go and live the normal life Tony took away from him. He doesn’t. He remains standing there, matching his breaths to Peter’s.

“It’s my fault.” He whispers when he can finally manage a full breath.

“What? Nothing’s your fault.” Peter says, still not backing away from him. “You can’t blame yourself for what everyone else did to you.”

“No. No. I did-I caused this.” He gestures to the room at large, “All this is because of me.”

Rhodey wheels over to them and reaches up to grab Tony’s chin, forcing his wide brown eyes to meet his own, “Tony listen to me. You caused none of this. Not one single thing that has happened in the past three years is your fault. Not even a little bit. You didn’t start that fight, you were only defending what was right. You stood up for the truth and you can’t be blamed for Rogers and the others’ single mindedness.” His eyes are hard, pleading with Tony to get this through his head, “I chose to be in that fight. I stuck by you because I knew that what we were fighting for was what was needed. I still know that. I got myself injured. You did nothing wrong.”

Tony wants to protest, to say… something, but Peter beats him to it, “And no one blames you for bringing me into the fight, You needed help and I gladly went with you. You’re my hero and I wanted to help you. You didn’t take anything away from me when you asked for help. If not for you, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to help everyone I have since then”

“None of this is your fault Tony.” Pepper says. “All you’ve ever done your whole life was fight for the truth, even when there were those who were against it.”

“You’re a great man, Tony. Don’t let The Avengers’ faults pull you down.” Happy supplies.

“If not for you,” Phil speaks quietly, “There probably wouldn’t have even been a world for anyone to protect. You saved us all. Repeatedly. So please, Tony, do not stand there and blame yourself for things far out of your control, because anything bad you’ve ever done is greatly outweighed by all of the good.”

Tony’s eyes burn and he still wants to pull away and deny all of it. But he can’t. They all look so sure and determined.

None of them blame him.

How could they not?

They- They-

“Tony.” Tony opens his bright eyes and is met with Cooper’s. Cooper’s eyes are equally wet, but a fierce desire for Tony to just understand is burning through them. “You are not responsible for what happened to them. For what happened to you. You are a hero. You are-”

“I am Iron Man.”

All eyes go wide. He doesn’t know why he said it. It just came out.

Tony loses it in the presence of his family and his new (old) friends.

 

*

It takes fifty-three embarrassingly long minutes for everyone to calm Tony down. It’s odd, having so many more people caring for him, giving him the same looks his family does. Strange yet...calming.

When he is no longer hyperventilating, he is actually able to let the comfort and love coming from the people surrounding him soothe him. He feels free, like he belongs here. And yet…

“You won’t make me stay?” He whispers, still clutching tightly to T’Challa and Laura, who had practically suffocated him within their arms.

“What do you mean?” He hears Phil ask.

“After-” He cuts himself off, no longer able to stand it.

“Tony,” Nick speak, “After all of this and your meeting with The Avengers, the only person will be allowed to decide if you stay or not is you. It’s your choice. Not any of ours.”

Tony nods his head softly, “Okay.”

“After, if you do wish to stay or go, we will stand by your decision.” T’Challa promises.

With a heavy heart Tony nods again and turns-as much as he can-to Nick, “Are they all there?” He whispers.

Nick nods, “They are. But if that’s a problem for you, I can have some of them leave and come back a different time.”

“No-That’s-It’s okay.” Tony responds, “I can do it. I-I want to do it.”

“Alright. Do you want to go right now?”

Tony looks to T’Challa but the man only shakes his head, “It is not my choice, Anthony. It is for you to decide.”

Tony looks to Nick, his face as determined as he can make it, and nods.

“Okay then. If you’ll all follow me.”

 

*

 

As soon as they walk through the doors, Tony feels all eyes of the people currently in there shift towards him. His own eyes are down, staring at his sneakers. His hand is clenched painfully tight where it is once again clutched in Laura’s. Cooper is at his back, arm draped over Tony’s shoulders, pulling him close. When the door is closed and all is still, Cooper’s arm only tightens.

The silence is near unbearable.

No one wants to be here.

No one wants to have this meeting.

Everyone knows they have to.

Finally, after nearly five minutes of no speaking, Nick does:

“Tony. Meet The Avengers.”

 

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers meeting next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I am sorry about the wait but my promotion is a go. So I've been busy with that and school. As a sorry though, I wrote a little bit of a longer chapter than I originally planned.
> 
> 2\. I know I said in the last chapter that I would respond to the first few comments, HOWEVER, I got way too many way too quick. And I love you guys for them so mucj, I love your feed back, I am sorry that I was unable to respond to any of them. Just know that I have read every single one of them and I appreciate and love them all. Thank you so much.
> 
> 3\. I know I also said in the last chapter that I will rewrite this version without the brother Tony and sister Natasha aspect. I have now decided that I am not going to that. I got many pleasant comments reminding me that this is MY story and I should do it how I want it. So I'm going to. I am sorry if you do not like Tony and Natasha being siblings, it's just how I saw it in the movies. I you don't like it though, you do not have to read this story. I am sorry if you do decide to stop reading this, but I am writing it how I want it. It seems rude I know, but those comments were right: this is MY story. Thank you to those who did comment with something along these lines. I am sorry to those that wanted it without this certain detail.
> 
> 4\. Clint is VERY angry in this and his actions seem very sudden and stupid, I know. I did that on purpose. In the movie Clint was a sick, so I decided to do it like that in this, too. And yes there are a lot more curse words here, but that is only because of Clint's attitude, in later chapters the language will not be as bad.
> 
> 5\. This chapter is from Natasha' s POV. I know a lot of it isn't really Natasha and Tony, most of it is Barton feels, but that is only because the Barton's relationship is never really addressed in post Civil War stories. Next chapter though, I promise will be Natasha and Tony and Fury and Tony.
> 
> 6\. I love comments. So please do!
> 
> Now the story.....

The moment he’s through the door, she cannot breathe. It has been three years since she has seen him. Three years of worry and guilt.

She didn’t expect him to look like this. Laura and Cooper Barton are draped across him, Laura on his side, clutching his hand tightly, while Cooper is towards his back, his arm blanketed across Tony’s shoulders. The others surround him in a half-circle.

That’s not even the weirdest part.

As she looks at him, truly takes him in, she feels her blood run cold. He looks different. So different that she would not have recognized him if she hadn’t grown up with him.

He looks like a child fresh into high school.

Natasha feels impossibly old.

Tony doesn’t look up from his feet as they finish walking through the door, but she sees his hand squeeze Laura’s tighter.

No one speaks, all too busy staring at Tony. His face is smooth and soft, a stark contrast to his usual beard and creases. His cheeks are chubbier and his hair darker, but his eyes remain the same: bright, shiny, and large.

Even his body is different. Gone is his muscular physique; in its place is a lean, lithe body, with finely sculpted muscles. He’s even shorter now than before, even shorter than what he would have been without his heeled shoes. He’s barely taller than Laura.

For five minutes they all stand there, studying him, not words coming out. Finally, Fury speaks: “Tony. Meet the Avengers.”

Natasha barely surpresses a flinch at that: they may have been working again, but she still doesn’t feel like an Avenger, not with all that has happened.

Slowly, Tony lifts his eyes from his shoes. Impossibly, they land on Natasha first.

His eyes remain on her’s for a long moment before continuing on, studying the rest. As he finishes and looks back down, it's Clint who speaks, “What the Hell, Stark?” His tone is sharp and angry. Tony does not respond, but Natasha notices how his grip tightens.

“Clint-” Steve tries but the archer cuts him off.

“No, Steve. He goes MIA for three years without even a trace and then comes back holding my wife’s hand, acting like the victim in all of this? Don't play into his shit.”

“You better watch what you’re saying, Barton.” Rhodey growls, stepping up to be in line with Tony.

“Go to Hell. This man ruined my life and took my family away from me. And now here he is, with them!” Clint growls and glares fiercely at Tony. “And what the Hell did you even do to yourself, huh? Did you fuck around with Extremis again? What- you don't remember what you did last time?”

“Clint!” Steve shouts. Natasha knows it's useless for him to even bother; when Clint gets going, there is not stopping him.

As predicted, the archer does not listen, instead he chooses to take a step forward towards Tony, hands clenched tightly into fists.

Clearly, it is the wrong thing to do.

Before anyone can even process what is going on. Clint is sprawled on the floor, clutching his bleeding nose, Cooper standing above him with a bloodied fist in the air.

“Coop.” Clint gasps, eyes huge and disbelieving, matching the looks of almost everyone else in the room.

“Shut up.” Cooper snarls, his face set into a scowl so fierce Natasha can't help but take the smallest of steps back. Client's boy has definitely grown over these past three years.

Natasha’s eyes drift from Cooper to Tony, studying them. Tony’s eyes are wide but not at all surprised and Natasha can see hidden the small bout of pride in them.

“Don't stand there and try to blame everything on Tony like you didn't know he was with hydra for the past three years.” Cooper’s voice is firm and angry, his eyes set and deadly. “You knew what you were doing when you chose to leave! You knew what you were doing when you chose to fight! You all knew what you were doing when you let Tony get taken by Hydra!”

Everyone flinches because, despite not wanting it to be, it's all true. All of it and there is not a thing any of them can do now. They all chose to be a part of that fight, they could have easily stayed home and allowed just Steve and Tony to talk it over. But they didn't. And now they have to deal with this: the consequences of their actions.

“Team Cap” -as the media so graciously dubbed them- look down, guilt obvious in their features.

Cooper glares dangerously at his father, “And do not stand there and make Tony look like he’s stealing us from you. You lost us when you chose Captain America over us.” His voice is low, almost a whisper, “Just like I choose T’Challa over you. He is a better father to Tony and us than you have ever been.”

The whole room stands still. None of them expected this.

Natasha drags her eyes to Clint’s face. She feels her heart shatter even more at the sight: Clint is absolutely wrecked. Despite his training to hide emotions, Clint is opening pained by what his son just said. His eyes are wide and wet, tears falling freely down his cheeks. He is staring up at his oldest child with such longing and pain and misery that Natasha feels her own eyes stinging with the burn of tears.

She has known this child for years and never has he been like this: he was always ecstatic whenever Clint came home, always eager to inform the marksman on what he missed while he was away.

Well, she supposes, a lot changes when you're abandoned by the ones you love.

She turns her gaze to Tony. The loved one she had abandoned three years ago when she decided to help Steve instead of her brother. When she didn't immediately going looking for him after he never came home from Siberia.

As she looks at him once more, she realizes that she was right : Tony is a completely different person, she can tell.

And he hasn't even spoken yet.

The tension in the room is thick as Cooper and Clint continue to stand there, one pair of eyes full of sadness and pain, the other full of hatred and anger.

“Cooper.” Laura whispers. Her eyes are red and wet, but she is not crying. She expected this, Natasha realizes. “Come on, baby. Calm down.” Slowly, hesitantly, she reaches out the hand not gripping Tony’s. She grasps his upper arm and gently pulls him away and behind her. Cooper allows his mother to pull him back, stumbling backwards and behind her, his eyes never leaving Clint's, even after the archer looks away.

“Colonel,” Fury speak to Rhodey- who is glaring at Clint, “Could you please take Mr. Barton’s kids to their rooms for the night.” it's more of a command than it is a question.

Rhodey turns his glare on Fury, “No way am I leaving Tony.”

“Rhodes-”

“It’s okay, Rhodey.” All eyes shift to Tony at the soft words. He is turned to Rhodey, looking up at him through his lashes, “I will be okay.” He says, just as quiet as before.

It is the first thing Natasha has heard her brother say in three years.

She wants to crawl into a hole and cry.

Rhodey clearly does not believe him, but after staring back at Tony for only thirty seconds, he softens completely and sighs, his shoulders sagging, “Okay, Tony” He says. They look at each other for another couple of seconds before Rhodey moves, grabbing Lila and Cooper’s hand from where they had been clutched to the back of their mother’s shirt. “Come on guys. Let's go check out your new room.” The children only let go and walk away when Tony and Laura give them little nods.

As they go, Natasha sees Cooper turn back to Tony one last time before they exit through the door.

With the children gone, Coulson’s face becomes dark and angry as he steps forward, “Go get yourself cleaned up Barton, you're bleeding on my floors.” Clint doesn't even protest. He just nods numbly and gets up, walking out the door opposite of the one Rhodey and his kids just went through.

“I'll go keep an eye on him.” Peter announces and walks away, squeezing Tony’s shoulder as he goes.

Coulson is about to speak again when, surprisingly, Bucky does, “I'm sorry.”

Tony looks up at him, eyes a little wide and frightened. “You're James. Aren't you?” He whispers.

Bucky nods, “Yeah. I am. And I am so sorry.” He repeats.

Tony looks at him quizzically, “Why?”

“Because I was the reason you guys were fighting in the first place.” Bucky looks so honest and guilty.

Tony doesn't look surprised or anything, if anything he seems to lose some of the weight from his shoulders. He sighs softly and looks Bucky in the eye.

“No you weren't.” Tony replies. Bucky looks like he's about to say something, but he doesn't. Tony nods and turns to T’Challa, “I can't do this today.” He whispers.

The king nods, “Very well. Director, Fury, I apologize if this is in anyway an inconvenience.”

Fury shakes his head, “Not at all. We weren't expecting Barton to be so….difficult. we understand if this is too much at once.”

“Thank you.” Tony says.

“Of course, Tony.”

“Come on, sweetheart.” Laura says. She pulls Tony’s hand and in the next moment they are gone, vanishing behind the same door the others went through, T’Challa and the rest following them.

Natasha watches them go with a heavy heart.

This is not how she wanted this meeting to go.

They all really messed up.

 

TBC…


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I know I said I'd have Fury in this one, but I decided to wait until the next chapter for him.
> 
> 2\. Again sorry about not responding to your comments, but I did read them all and I Loved them. Thank you!
> 
> 3\. Feel free to throw out any recommendation or just stuff you'd like to see. Since this has been deleted from my computer I am having trouble remembering how I did it all and I'd love to see what you guys want!
> 
> ENJOY

His room is large and beautiful with nicely decorated sheets and blankets and fine paintings on the walls.

Tony hates it. It is not his room. He does not want to be in here. He wants to be in his shared room with Cooper, warm and safe on the bottom of the bunk bed the two of them had built. (T’Challa and Laura helped them convert Tony’s old room into a workshop for them, per Tony’s request.)

But he digresses. This is an important meeting between him and the Avengers, he will stay here if he has to.

He says nothing though as Laura honest-to-god tucks him in. He had protested, of course, reminding her that he was a teenager and did not need babying, but she seemed stressed with all that had happened. So Tony let her continue. She obviously needed to reassurance that Tony was okay; Tony was going to let her have that.

Besides, it wasn’t like she was bathing him and rocking him and just doing the normal baby stuff she’d do with Nate every night. She was merely making sure that his teeth were brushed and then pushing him into the far too large bed, pulling the covers up.

Cooper is standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. His face is pinched with anger still, but he is visibly calmer now. He doesn’t say anything either as he watches his mother tuck his brother in.

Laura finally finishes smoothing down nonexistent wrinkles in his blanket and sighs. She stands up straight again and gives Tony a soft, warm smile that he can’t help but return. The woman is calmer now, almost as if making sure Tony was huddled warmly in the bed eased her stress from the disastrous meeting with The Avengers. Her previous stress lines are softer now, smoothed away and instead replaced with lines of exhaustion. The mother steps up to Tony and presses a long kiss to his forehead, smiling again as she pulls away, “Sleep well, okay? I love you.” She whispers. Another kiss is pressed to Tony’s forehead before she is up and heading towards the door. She stops just before it and looks at Cooper. “You two don’t stay up too late. I’ll be by in fifteen minutes to make sure you guys are settled down. Alright?” She asks her oldest quietly.

“Of course.” Is Cooper’s response, just as quiet as his mother’s. He takes a step forward and envelopes her in a hug, burying his face into her neck for a long moment before pulling away. “I love you.” He says.

“I love you too.” Laura sniffles. “Good night you two.”

“Good night.” Cooper replies. Still, Tony says nothing; he hasn’t said anything since he requested to go to bed.  
Laura smiles anyway and leaves the room, clicking the door shut softly behind her. Cooper walks over to the light switch and flicks it off, leaving the room illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the large window. In a few quick steps he is beside the bed, pulling back the loosely placed covers; Tony has a feeling that Laura suspected Cooper may spend the night with Tony.

The oldest of the two teens sigh as Cooper pulls Tony against his chest, tucking the younger’s head into the crook of his neck carefully. Tony feels Cooper’s body begin to tremble and wraps his arms tightly around his brother pressing himself even closer.

“Tony.” Cooper sobs out, finally releasing the tears he’d been holding back ever since he saw Clint.

“It’s okay.” And that’s what brakes the dam: Cooper begins sobbing loudly, painfully, pushing his face into Tony’s hair and letting it all out. And Tony lets him. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t comfort him. He doesn’t tell him to man up. He pulls him closer and lets his brother cry.

 

*

 

The tiles are cold beneath Tony’s bare feet. It’s long past the hour where anyone should be up, but Tony’s steps remain as light and steady as they ever are.

He's in the living room. Well- he's in a living room; this place is huge, Tony would not be surprised if there was more than one of everything. From what Tony can tell, him and his family are all in the West wing, while The Avengers are in the east. Honestly, Tony feels they're still a little too close for comfort.

He knew the meeting with the Avengers would not go well, but he did not expect it to escalate that quickly. Where does Clint Barton get off thinking that he has a right to be angry? They all made their choices, Tony included, now they need to learn to live with them.

Not really paying attention to where he's going Tony finds that he's left the living room and is now outside, next to the large and beautiful pool.

Tony looks down and stares at his reflection, at his smooth skin, at his soft large eyes, at the ever growing spark in his irises. Yeah, Tony had made choices. Choices he can't even remember now. But he still lives with this. He knows he is not really a fifteen year old kid, he knows that Cooper and Lila and Nate were not really his siblings, he knows Laura and T’Challa were not his parents. He does. He knows all of this. But it doesn't change the fact that these are true now. Nothing changes the fact that, whatever choice he made three years ago, led to this.

Nothing will change the fact that he loves these people and he will do anything to protect them. He made whatever choice three years ago, he got taken, and he lost his team. But it doesn't matter. He has his family now, he has people who will stay with him and protect him, he has people who love him. And Tony’s going to hold onto them.

There is a scuffle behind him and Tony whips around, bracing himself for an attack. He freezes when he sees who is there: Natasha. His sister.

Neither of them say anything as Natasha comes to a stop five feet before him. Tony refuses to make eye contact with Tony.

“I looked for you.” The words surprise Tony after some minutes of silence. He looks up at the redhead and stares, noticing in her eyes the guilt and pain. Tony still says nothing. “When you didn't come home from Siberia, I flew out there and looked for you. But you weren't There. All that was left was Steve's shield, your armour, and blood. So much blood.” She whispers that last part so quietly that Tony would not have heard her if not for his enhanced hearing.

Natasha continues, “We looked everywhere for you, Rhodey, Pepper, Vision and I. But… but we gave up so soon. You were only gone a year and we gave up. I gave up. Pepper and Rhodey though, they never stopped looking. Even after I quit and gave up on you, they didn't. Fury was so disappointed in me. I let my only brother down… In more ways than one. I- I am so sorry Tony.” Tony watches as Natasha cries, crumbling onto the bench behind her and sobs.

Tony still remains where he stands when she finally stops, wiping the final year from her eye and standing once more. “Tony.” She says softly. “Please look at me.”

Tony does. He looks straight into her eyes and watches her as she sucks in a quiet, startled breath.

“I am so sorry for what I have done to you. I had never meant for everything to go that far. No one was supposed to get hurt. But especially not you.” Natasha says. “I'm your sister. It's my job to be there for you. Please forgive me. Please forgive your sister.”

Tony lets what she says sink in for a while as Natasha watches him, hope clear in her green eyes. He thinks about Laura and her kids, he thinks about T’Challa and his guilt, he thinks about himself and what he suffered through. He thinks about what The Avengers did to his family, past and present.

Finally, just as Tony sees Natasha is about to walk away, Tony speaks. “No.”

Natasha’s eyes widen, she chokes on her breath, tears form in her eyes again. “No?” She cries.

“No. I will not forgive you for what you've done.” His voice is hard, firm. “You've apologized for wronging me. But what about everyone else? I was not the only life you and the Avengers destroyed. And I won't even attempt to forgive you until you truly realize what all of our actions have caused. I am only a fragment of the glass you guys destroyed. So no. I will not forgive you.”

He storms away, pushing his shoulder into hers and ignoring her cries of his name. He stops before he gets to the door though. He doesn't even turn around as he declares, “Lila is my sister. I don't even know who you are.”

He walks inside to the sounds of her sobs.

 

TBC...


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Happy Thanksgiving
> 
> 2\. Sorry about the long wait, I usually aim for about once a month apart, but I had even less time than usual.
> 
> 3\. Thanks so much for the comments on that last chapter. I know I didn't respond to all of them, but I was able to respond to the top few. So, if you want a reply, go ahead and leave comments. I love them. Please. Either way though, I promise every one of them is read.
> 
> 4\. Fury!
> 
> 5\. This is a SUPER SHORT chapter, I know. I am sorry. Life is hard and busy, but I will make it up to you guys in the next chapter.
> 
> Now the story...

Tony feels eyes on him the moment he steps back inside. He tenses, tightening his body and scans his eyes slowly. He spots Nick in the corner of the room, arms across his chest, and unreadable expression on his face. Tony lets his body relax but does not move closer to the man. He waits for him to speak.

"When I took you two in, you made me promise you something. Something that, up until these past few years, I was always ready to carry out. I promised you that, should you hurt your sister in any way- physically or mentally- I pull the trigger." Nick speaks, stepping out of the shadows. He is not looking at Tony- he is looking outside to where Tony is positive Natasha still is. "When I asked you why, you told me that you did not want to end up like him. You did not want to become the monster he did. So, I respected the promise I made. Now, though, now I have no idea what to do." Nick stops right in front of Tony and finally looks him in the eye. "You told me what to do should you turn against your sister. You never told me what to do should she turn on you."

Tony swallows and fights to keep his eyes locked on Nick's. His voice is strained as he speaks, "Who is 'he'?"

"Howard Stark. Your father." Nick responds. "He was no a very nice man and when I found you, the very first thing you made me do was make that promise to you." Nick shakes his head with a strangely odd smile on his face. "For thirty-six years I have been holding the promise I made to a ten-year-old."

"Why did you keep it?" Tony asks the man.

Nick sighs and shakes his head, once more looking outside. "Because I made that promise to a scared, damaged, yet unimaginably strong ten-year-old boy." Nick returns his gaze once more and raises his hand up. He cups the back of Tony's neck, forcing him to look Nick in the eye. "A ten-year-old who, from that moment, even 'till now, I love like my own son."

Tony's eyes begin to sting, but he does not cry, he merely stands there and stares. Nick stares right back at him- right through him. Tony feels exposed; he can feel Nick piecing him together, figuring him out, determining what he is thinking, feeling.

Finally, after so many minutes of silence, Tony asks, "What now?" Nick raises an eyebrow. "If I choose to forgive these people, if I feel that they deserve my forgiveness, what then?"

Nick sighs. "That is your choice. If you want to stay with your family on your farm, you may. If you want to stay with these people, you may. Whatever you choose, just know: I will stand by your decision. We all will."

 

*

 

Nick takes him back to his room with nothing more than a goodnight and a firm squeeze on his shoulder. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that Tony has had enough for today. Tony knows they will be speaking thoroughly tomorrow.

Cooper is still in the bed, sprawled out with the blankets a mess around his body. Taking a step forward, Tony gets another look at the bed and smiles. Nate is there too; the boy is curled around his older brother, sucking on his thumb. Tony makes a face at that and searches for the diaper bag Laura left in there earlier. In there, he grabs one of Nate's pacifiers. The boy hardly uses them anymore, but Tony understands how frightened he may be.

Stepping up to the bed, Tony coaxes the pacifier into the toddler's mouth and climbs in beside him, tucking Nate's much smaller form against his. There is some grumbling as both Nate and Cooper shift to accommodate for Tony, but soon enough they settle again, both of the boy's arms finding a way around Tony somewhere.

Tony melts into the comfort of the soft mattress and the warmth of his brothers.

He does not care what tomorrow will bear, not right now, not with his family. 

For now, he closes his eyes and sleeps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, everyone.

“I spoke with Natasha last night.” He blurts it over breakfast the next morning, just as they are sitting down to eat.

 

Laura pauses her dishing out the food, T’Challa nearly chokes on his coffee but quickly composes himself, and Cooper lets out a confused  _ ‘already?’. _ Lila and Nate merely glance at their family and continue eating the food Laura gave them, knowing their mother and father will solve whatever is wrong with their brother.

 

Carefully Laura sets the hot pan of eggs back onto the stove and walks back to the table, taking a seat between Tony and Cooper. Tony doesn’t look at any of them, instead he stares down at his plate that he’s pushed away, having had no appetite this morning.

 

T’Challa breaks the silence; he sets his mug down and clears his throat. “How did it go?”

 

Tony lets out a small breath of air and wrings his hands together on his lap. “Not very well.”

 

“Why’s that?” Laura questions sweetly, bringing her hand up to rest warmly  and reassuringly on Tony’s arm. Tony can’t help but lean further into the woman’s touch, seeking the offered comfort.

 

“She tried to apologise to me.” Tony explains quietly “Said she was sorry for all that she did to me. She said she never wanted to hurt me, especially in this way.”

 

T’Challa sits up a bit straighter, sharing a look with Laura across the table. Cooper leans back in his seat and stares straight at Tony just past Laura. “What is so wrong with that?” T’Challa asks curiously.

 

Tony gives a half shrug. “She shouldn’t be apologising to me.” At their questioning noises and looks, Tony continues. “What about everyone else she hurt? I’m not special from them.”

 

“Tony-” Laura starts, but Tony isn’t finished with this.

 

“There are so many more important, innocent lives that she- that all of them- ruined than mine. I’m not at all more important than any of them- she shouldn’t be feeling guilty on at my expense.” Tony rushes out, just as quiet but no less meaningful as before. “ He still doesn’t get how Natasha hadn’t understood this: Tony is just one person, he shouldn’t be the sole reason for Natasha’s guilt.

 

Surprisingly, Cooper is the next one to speak, his tone sharp enough to draw Tony’s eyes to him. “How can you possibly be mad about that? What does everyone else matter?”

 

“Cooper Barton.”

 

“Yes, these people have fucked up- _ ’Cooper.’ _ \- countless other lives. But you need to focus on yours. They ruined  _ your  _ life too.  _ Hell _ , they probably ended up worse than any of the others! Their lives were taken from them, yours was  _ stolen! _ Did you make mistake before all of this? Yes, of course you did. But did you deserve this? To be taken and molded and broken and changed, all because of your own sister and supposed team?  _ N _ o _. _ Who cares what mistakes you made- they were mistakes _ , accidents _ . And you made them because you are human and that’s what humans do- make mistakes! So don’t sit there and say you’re not as important as the others are just because you made some bad decisions before all of this, because I guarantee most- if not all- of their other victims made just as many as you. You are innocent and you  _ matter _ . To us and to everyone who was there waiting for you yesterday with smiles and tears of happiness- so much damn happiness, just for you.” Cooper takes a heavy breath and stands. He puts his hands on the table, leaning on them to push himself closer to Tony, staring the younger boy directly in the eyes. “You are our family and you matter to us and I will say this to you everyday if I need to. I don’t care about the others- who gives a shit how wrong that sounds- but it’s true. It’s sad, yes, I do feel sorry for them, but they are not  _ you _ . You’re my brother and I care about your closure and wellbeing. Just like you should. So please, just for once in your damn life, put yourself first, because the others don’t need to matter right now.”

 

Cooper’s breathing has turned deep, heavy, and his eyes are wide with honesty. Tony can’t bring himself to avert his gaze from them; they stare at each other while Tony feels Laura, T’Challa, and the two kids staring at the both of them.

 

Tony wants to say something, anything in response, but he can’t. Because Cooper’s right: Tony has been with this family- his family- for months now and he can feel how much these people love him and care for him.

 

“Tony.” Laura whispers. Tony can tell without even looking up at the blond that she is withholding her tears. “Although I don’t care for his use of language,” That  earns her a round of amused giggles and laughs, “He’s right. A lot of lives have either been lost or ruined to the people, but there is nothing we can do for them, especially not now. But there is something we can do for  _ you _ , because you are still alive and getting better. Natasha may need to worry about all of the others, but you don’t have to, not when you should be worrying about fixing yourself. So please, listen to what we’re telling you and know that you matter. You are important. Never believe otherwise.”

 

As she was speaking, Tony’d turned to stare at her. His mother’s eyes are just as intense and serious as Cooper’s had been and Tony has to fight the urge to shrink under the powerful gaze. He swivels his head to the left, his eyes catching T’Challa’s. The mas has been relatively quiet this whole morning, but the king’s eyes are suspiciously wet and he gives Tony a look. With a slow nod, Tony turns back to Cooper.

 

“I’m sorry.” He whispers to his brother.

 

Cooper gives a firm shake of his head. “Don’t apologise for this.  _ None _ of this has been and will never be your fault.”

 

Tony offers him a gentle smile and another, smaller nod. “Okay. Thank you.”

 

“There is no need to thank him, Anthony, they merely spoke the truth.” T’Challa suddenly inputs. “All you need is to remember these words and always follow them.” He raises a hand to cup Tony’s face gently. “Do you understand, my child?”

 

Tony’s heart skips at the endearment and feels a blush begin to sprinkle his cheeks. “I’ll try my best to.” He promises quietly.

 

“Your best is enough.”

 

They chat for a little longer, Laura tries scolded Cooper for foul language but the woman is smiling the whole time, before they continue on with breakfast. Tony helps Laura finish dishing the food out, all the while thinking of Natasha’s, Fury’s, and his family’s words.

  
  
  


*

  
  
  


After helping T’Challa clean the dishes and playing with Nate for a little while, Tony leaves their section of the building. It’d taken a little while before he’d been able to convince Laura to let him leave, but she eventually let him.

 

He went looking for James Barnes.

 

They’d spoken when Tony first arrived, but Tony wanted to actually talk to the man. He passes Rhodey and Peter on his way, gaining himself some followers after telling him where he was headed. He didn’t mind too much, but Tony did feel a bit uncomfortable with how close the two of them were to his back as they walked.

 

Long before they are even close to the room, Tony can hear the Avengers arguing- more like fighting- with each other. He’s not positive, but he’s pretty sure he can hear Natasha’s, Rogers’s, Barton’s, and Wilson’s (though Tony hasn’t actually heard the man speak himself yet and he’s not positive that that’s even his real name, it’s a safe bet considering he was the only Avenger who was present to not spoken before) voices, loud and frustrated.

 

They are arguing about him, he can tell, but Tony can’t bring himself to actually listen into what they are saying. When the three of them reach the living room, the Avengers immediately fall silent. Tony takes a minute to study everyone present in the room. He was right about who was arguing and the four of them are in an awkward circle in the center of the room. Rogers and Wilson had their backs to them but they quickly turned to stare after the Avengers stopped talking. Their eyes goes wide and their mouths gape at him. Barton and Natasha are facing him, but as soon as the pair spot them, they carefully close off their faces, looking away from Tony and his followers. Tony feels a sense of pride bubble within his chest aimed towards Cooper once he sees the bruising on Barton’s face, dark, ugly, and gross.

 

He sees Rogers about to speak, his mouth opening as his brows pinch, but Tony doesn’t allow the man a chance. “James. May I please talk to you? In private?”

 

The ex-Hydra agent’s eyes widen for a few seconds before James nods his head slowly. “Of course.”

 

Tony, Peter, and Rhodey walk out of the room and Tony doesn’t even bother turning around to check if James is actually following him or not. He knows he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the wait! To answer some of your questions, no this fic has not been abandoned I have just been super busy. But, as a sorry, I have started a new fic that I think you guys will love.
> 
> This is short, I know, but I hope you like it anyways.
> 
> FYI, this was written in class, so I didn't at all reread it. Hope you enjoy!

Tony leads James to his own bedroom. He gestures for James to take a seat and, after the man does so, follows suit. They sit silently for a few moments, James looking ahead out the window, and Tony staring at the man.

 

Eventually, James speaks. “I’m sorry. I know you said that I shouldn’t be and that it’s not my fault, but it is. If not for me, none of this would have happened.” Tony doesn’t speak, just lets James continue. “When I broke through their programing, I had no idea what to do. I didn’t know who I was and I didn’t know friend from enemy. So… when Steve came, I latched on. He knew me and I recognized him from… somewhere. I… He  _ knew _ me and I wanted to know myself. That’s why I stayed with him. Even after all that went down between everyone. I just… I just didn’t intend for him to do all of that. I didn’t think I was worth it… I still don’t.” A heavy breath leaves James and he turns his head, meeting Tony’s eyes. “Tony. I am so sorry. Please forgive me.”

 

Tony can’t handle the intense gaze and looks down. “I have no reason to forgive for because I was never angry with you. But, for your sake, yes. I forgive.” He says.

 

“Thank you.” James whispers.

 

“And… I know what you mean. After you guys came in that base and I ran away, I had no idea what to do with myself. So I just kept running. Eventually I came across the house and I  _ knew _ I had to go there. I don’t know why. I just did. And when I woke up and actually met Laura, T’Challa, and the kids, I knew I made the right choice. They knew me, or at least they knew the old me and it felt… nice. Everything was so strange and new but it did. It felt nice.” Tony admits.

 

“Did they help you? Break the programming?” James asks.

 

Tony offers him a small smile, finally looking up. “Definitely. It took awhile, but eventually, I didn’t feel like some tool. I felt like… a kid. Just another kid living with his parents and siblings. I felt loved.”

 

“It’s nice. That’s kind of how I used to feel around Steve.”

 

“And now?” Tony asks. “How do you feel around him now?”

 

James looks away for a moment, before looking down at his hands. He looks a bit uncomfortable at the question, but he does answer. “I don’t know. Trapped, I would say. He still doesn’t get that I’m not the same man he knew and I love him like a brother, but… like a distant brother. I don’t feel like I belong here.”

 

Tony nods and doesn’t say anything else.

 

The two of them sit in surprisingly comfortable silence for a little bit, staring out the window or staring straight ahead.

 

“James?” Tony speaks eventually. The man looks at the child on the bed, at his hesitant smile and downcast eyes. “Laura mentioned something about a lab and Cooper and I were going to go down there and um.. Could you please come with the two of us?” Tony asks. “I understand that things are still weird, but I do want to get to know you. And, you just seem like a nice guy.”

 

James thinks for a moment before coming to a decision. “Of course, Tony. I’d love to get to know you too.” James smiles.

 

Tony’s face lights up at that. “Great. I’ll just go get Cooper.” Tony stands from the bed, but he pauses at the door. “Please stay here. Don’t go anywhere” He goes to step out and freezes once more. “Oh and James?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Thank you. For this talk. It helped a lot more than I really thought it would.” Tony says.

 

James returns the small smile and looks at the boy at the door. “Of course Tony.”

  
  
  


*

  
  
  


Peter and Rhodey were still outside the door when Tony walked out, but soon enough they let him leave to go and get his brother. Fairly quickly, Tony comes back, explaining to Cooper what they were doing and about James.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Tony asks, stopping just down the hall from the door at his door so Peter and Rhodey don’t hear the two of them. “I didn’t mean to surprise you  with this.”

 

Cooper nods. “I’ll admit that I’m hesitant, but you said so yourself the man was safe. Now, come on. T’Challa said you’d love your lab.”

 

“Thanks, Cooper.”

 

Cooper playfully rustles Tony’s hair. “Anytime little bro.”

  
  


Ten minutes later, the three of them are standing outside of large, blackened glass, having finally convinced Peter and Rhodey to let them go.

 

“How do I open it?” Tony asks looking at Cooper then James. Both of them shrug at him then study the door.

 

_ “Voice recognition: Tony Stark. Access granted.”  _ An accented female voice says from above them. Cooper flinches and the two ex-assets carefully keep their composure, looking up towards the ceiling.

 

A moment later, the glass doors swish open and become clear. Bright lights above flicker on and Tony is met with the most amazing sight he has ever seen,

 

“Holy shit.” He hears Cooper breathe. “This is so cool.”

 

Tony hears a noise of agreement from James and nods himself. “Very cool.” He takes a few hesitant steps into the futuristic lab.

  
_ “Boss?” _ That same voice asks, radiating around the entire lab.  _ “Is that really you?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Tony looks back at James and Cooper. The two of them notice his stare and shrug. “I think that’s you.” Cooper whispers to him.

 

“Really?” Tony asks, just as quietly.

 

“You could ask?” Offers James.

 

Tony nods and turns back around, turning his gaze up to the ceiling. “Um- Am I- I’m Tony.” He tells the ceiling. “Is that what you mean?”

 

_ “Scanning now.”  _ The voice says. Tony tenses, expecting some weird light or something. But nothing happens. After a couple of seconds, the voice speaks once more.  _ “Scan complete. Identity confirmed: Anthony Edward Stark. Welcome back, Boss.”  _ If possible, the voice was choked up.

 

“Thank you?” Tony replies, unsure of how he should actually respond.

 

_ “I am FRIDAY, an AI of your creation. I have just gone through my security footage and I understand your confusion. If you could please, however, make your way to the far right corner, there are some items there that I think you may recognize.”  _ FRIDAY says. A light to the far right corner of the workshop turns on, highlighting the area.

 

Tony hesitates before looking back at his brother and James. Cooper only smiles and walks forward, coming to rest his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Come on, Tony. We’ll go with you.”

 

Tony nods and, feeling James step up onto his other side, takes slow steps towards the corner of the workshop. They take it slowly, each of them staring about in amazement at everything. It’s all just so cool and futuristic.

 

Eventually, they make it to the corner where, sitting in large chargers, looks like clawed robots.

 

“What are these?” Cooper asks, more to himself than to anyone else.

 

FRIDAY answers anyway.  _ “These are another of Boss’s creations. If you wait a couple of seconds you will have a chance to meet them.” _

 

Cooper nods and the three of them stare at the arms that are charging. After about three seconds, the light of the charger goes out and the robot closest to them whirrs. Its claw lifts and seemingly looks at the three people standing there watching it.

 

Tony doesn’t even have the chance to move before the robot rolls at him, pushing him to the ground with its claw. Tony lands on the floor with an ‘oomf’ and the bot is on top of him, running its claw all over.

 

_ “This is DUM-E.”  _ He hears FRIDAY say over DUM-E’s whirring and beeping.  _ “He is the very first of your bots. The one to your right is U. As you can see, U is much better mannered than his brother.” _

 

“That’s alright.” Cooper says, a little dazedly, staring at the scene in front of him.

 

Tony himself lets out a laugh, enjoying the happiness coming from these two bots. After a few minutes, though, FRIDAY addresses the bots.  _ “Please get off of Boss and allow him to breathe.” _

 

As they roll away a bit, still beeping and waving their claws around wildly, Tony sits up, trying to catch his breath. These bots feel… familiar. Not in the way that he’s seen them before, but like he actually  _ knows  _ them. It makes him smile.

 

He remembers them. It may only be a short remembrance, but he does. He remembers DUM-E and U.

 

“Are you alright?” James asks, kneeling down to help Tony off of the floor. Cooper is busy playing with DUM-E and U, giggling as the bots press into his space, curious about the new kid with their creator.

 

Tony nods, still smiling. “Yeah. I think I… I think I remember them.” He admits proudly.

 

Cooper’s eyes light up. “Really?”

 

“Yeah. They’re not clear memories but… they’re something.”

 

“That’s great!” Cooper beams.

 

“Yeah, it is.” Tony breathes, staring down at the bots now circling around them.

 

The three of them spend the next half hour, playing with the bots. DUM-E had brought them a tennis ball and they alternated having the robots go to catch it. The bots are rowdy and even manage to draw a laugh out of James when they start fighting with each other over the tennis ball. 

 

“These robots of yours are dorks.” James had muttered, watching as the two eventually dropped the ball.

 

“I think they’re cute.” Cooper had responded. “They remind me of Tony. They’re small and adorable.”

 

Cooper had promptly been hit upside the head at that comment.

 

“I’m telling Mom you hit me.”

 

“I’m telling Mom That you’re making fun of me.”

 

And it was fun.

 

The bots eventually got tired though and DUM-E grabbed Tony’s hand. “What?” He asks it. DUM-E merely whirrs again and starts leading Tony more towards the center of the room. Once there, Tony sees that there are a set of stairs leading down. “What is this?” He asks.

 

_ “I don’t believe you are ready to go down there, yet.”  _ FRIDAY says.

 

“Why not?” Cooper and James came up behind him, staring down at the stairs themselves.

 

_ “I fear Boss seeing these will be too much in one afternoon.” FRIDAY says. _

 

James tries looking over the edge of the railing, but whatever rooms was down here was dark. “What’s there?” He asks.

 

FRIDAY pauses.  _ “Although I do not recommend it, I cannot prevent you from going down. If you would like to know, you may see.” _

 

The three of them share a look. “Should we go?” Cooper asks.

 

“I don’t know. Um- FRIDAY?” Tony says.

 

_ “Yes, Boss?” _

 

“Whatever’s down there-it’s not dangerous is it?”

 

_ “No, Boss. Those, too, are your creations. You will be safe.”  _ FRIDAY informs.

 

“Those? Are they more robots?”

 

Another pause.  _ “Some may think so.” _

 

Cooper leans in close to Tony’s ear. “She’s being very creepy.” He whispers.

 

_ “I assure you, Mr. Barton, that my vague answers and hesitant approach is merely in response to the facts that I do not believe Boss is yet ready for what is down there and because, despite my overlooking of security footage of you and Sergeant Barnes, I do not trust you two with what is down there.”  _ FRIDAY says, startling Cooper.  _ “I fear that, should you see these, either of you will, as you humans say, rat Boss and his friends out.” _

 

“We wouldn’t do that.” James says immediately.

 

_ “Should Boss agree, I am inclined to follow his judgement.” _

 

Tony nods. “I trust them. They won’t do anything like that.”

 

_ “Of course, Boss. If you still desire, you may make your way down the stairs. Though I am afraid DUM-E must stay up here. He is still not allowed to go back down there.” _

 

Cooper raises an eyebrow. “Why not?”

 

_ “Last time he was down there, he destroyed one of Boss’s creations. Boss grounded him from entering again. And, as per your orders, Boss, he still has another two weeks of his ‘sentence’, as you so dutifully said.” _

 

“Okay.” Cooper says. He looks at Tony. “You ground you robots? Dork.”

 

Tony chuckles. “I guess.”

 

They take the stairs slowly, careful not to trip in the still dark. As they go, lights turn on with them, lighting the stairs and room in a magnificant white glow.

 

They step down into a small room, outlined with wine racks. Confused, the three keep walking, making their way further to the back of the room where, in the floor, there seems to be a door.

 

“FRIDAY, what is this?” Tony asks, stopping on the edge of the floor.

 

_ “These.”  _ FRIDAY starts. The floor below opens and light floods the large, deep hole in the floor. Along the walls of the room, strange, round blue lights begin turning on, going on for hundreds of feet below the ground.

 

Tony can’t breathe.

 

_ “Are you creations, Boss-” _

 

“Iron Man. These are all Iron Man.”

 

And there were at least two hundred of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, I know it's been a while.
> 
> Yes, I saw Infinity Wars, yes, I loved it, but no, there will be nothing about it within this story so no need to worry about spoilers.
> 
> It's a little short, I know, but I just wanted to give you guys something after so long.

Cooper breathes a heavy breath and looks between Tony and the armours. His eyes eventually settle on Tony and stare at him in such awe. “This is incredible.” He breathes.

 

Tony nods, not taking his eyes away from the suits. He takes a step closer and looks even further down, staring at the finer details of the suits. From here, Tony could see the different plates and creases, otherwise hidden from normal sight. Etched into every one of those lines, Tony could see the time and craftsmanship that went into each one of them. These suits were clearly built will love and care.

 

“Why were these hidden?” James asks quietly.

 

Tony turns to meet his eye, then lifts his gaze to the ceiling. “FRIDAY?”

 

_ “As per Miss Potts commands, I was told to not show these unless you asked. Certainly, she did not expect for you to stumble upon them.”  _ FRIDAY admits.

 

“Why didn’t she want me seeing them?” Tony asks.

 

_ “She did not believe you to be ready. It was agreed upon between her and your parents. They wanted to give you more time to adjust.” _

 

Tony feels like he should maybe be angry, his parents and friends kept something as big as this from him. But he isn’t. All of this is overwhelming if he were being honest, and he honestly just wants to go to his room and take it all in. Tony can’t blame them for wanting to wait to show him all of this.

 

He doesn’t say anything more, just stares at the suits before them. They are beautiful, he’ll admit. The red and gold plates glint faintly in the lighting and the light in the center of the chest, although it is out and dark, looks lovely and familiar. He doesn’t need to wonder why it’s familiar- these are, or were, his suits, of course, he’d feel something- but he does start to wonder why his chest twinges a bit and he has to swallow past a lump in his throat as he stares at it.

 

Eventually, he looks back at James and Cooper. “What should we do?” He asks.

 

James and Cooper share a look, faces unsure. James shrugs but Cooper looks back at Tony. “You could try one on?”

 

Tony’s eyebrows shoot up. “Try one on? Why?”

 

“Well, they’re yours, right? Why not have some fun with it? Try it on. See if it feels right to you.” Cooper explains.

 

“But why would I need to?” He questions, looking back at the suits in front of him. “I’m not Iron Man anymore.”

 

“Don’t you want to be?” Cooper asks, stuffing his hands into his pockets and stepping closer to be should-to-shoulder with his brother. “I mean, I doubt Mom will actually let you, but wouldn’t you still want to? You can become a superhero again.”

 

Tony sighs and steps away from the beautiful suits. “I actually don’t. Not yet, anyway.” He admits.

 

Two small gasps echo in the air and Tony sees that both people with him are now looking at him as if he’d grown a second head. “What?” He asks.

 

It’s James who speaks. “You don’t want to be Iron Man? That's who you were before all of this.”

 

“But that’s exactly it,” Tony stuffs his hands in his pockets. “That was  _ before.  _ Clearly, I’ve changed since then and on top of that, I just don’t think I’m ready for that. I’m still trying to figure out who I am. If I take this up again, then it won’t help with anything. I’ll still be so confused.”

 

Cooper still looks shocked. “That’s… nice, but it’s still so surprising. We’ve talked about you being Iron Man with Mom, but you never mentioned you didn’t want to do it anymore.”

 

“I guess I didn’t really know that I didn’t want to until now.”

 

“But Iron Man was a hero.”

 

Tony nods. “But Iron Man is also what led us here. You said it yourself; we talked about this with Mom, she’s told me all that Iron Man has done. He may be a hero, but he has also been the cause of a lot.”

 

“That wasn’t you,” James says, eyes earnest. “I learned about Iron Man, too. None of what happened was your fault. Everything that went wrong, you were just a pawn.”

 

“That may be, but… I still don’t want it. I don’t want that title. Not yet, anyway.” He says, looking down at his sneakers again.

 

A warm hand rests on his shoulder. “We understand Tony. If you don’t want to, you won’t have to. It’s your decision and your decision alone. No one will make you do anything you don’t want to. Not anymore.” Cooper says.

 

His own hand grabs Cooper’s and squeezes, meeting his brother’s eyes. “Thanks, Cooper.”

 

After taking a moment to breathe, the three of them make their way back up the stairs and back into the workshop. “I’m hungry. Do you want to go up for food?” Tony asks them.

 

“Sure.”

  
  
  


*

  
  
  


Laura’s in the kitchen with Nate in his booster seat. She’s making soup and bread, from the smell of things. If she’s shocked that James is there, she certainly doesn’t show it. “Hey guys, lunch will be ready soon. Where were you?”

 

“Down in my lab,” Tony confesses, not wanting to lie to his mother. “It was very cool.”

 

A smile flashes on her face as Cooper grabs the utensils to set the table. “Oh really? What was down there? I’ve never been in there.”

 

“I’ll be sure to take you down next time,” Tony sits down at the table, next to Nate. “There were a lot of cool machines. And there were these two robots that I apparently made named DUM-E and U. They were cute. There’s also an AI named FRIDAY.”

 

The mother hummed thoughtfully, spooning some soup into the bowls. “T’Challa mentioned an AI you used to have, but he said she hasn’t spoken to anyone since before everything.”

 

“I think she was hiding,” Cooper says.

 

“Well, if I had to deal with these people every day, I would, too.”

 

Tony and Cooper look at their mother curiously. “What do you mean?” Cooper asks.

 

Laura sighs and, after finishing putting everything on the table and making James and Cooper sit, speaks. “Your father tried to see me today.”

 

_ “What?!” _ Cooper rages. “Why?”

 

Laura puts her hand on Cooper’s across the table. “Relax, Baby, I didn’t let him.  _ T’Challa  _ didn’t let him. It’s just incredibly frustrating that he’s now trying to act like he has any say in what I do with you guys anymore. You’re  _ my  _ kids. He has no right.”

 

After that, lunch passes pretty normally. T’Challa and Lila walk in a little while later from their playing in the gardens and neither one really seems to care that James is there.

 

Lila, actually, after a little while of shy glances, pushes her chair closer to James’s and has him help her with some pictures she’s creating, leaning into his space a little bit.

 

After lunch, as Nate was laying down for his nap and Lila and Cooper were outside with James, Tony had confronted Laura and T’Challa about Iron Man. He told them the truth: he didn’t want to be Iron Man anymore. Or, not yet, at least.

 

Surprisingly, he wasn’t met with shocked faces like he had with Cooper and James; his parents actually looked  _ relieved. _

 

“I don’t want you getting hurt. So, yes, I’m glad to hear you don’t want to do anything dangerous like that.” Laura had said, drawing laughs out of the other two.

 

T’Challa had clapped him on the shoulder. “I, too, am glad to hear of this. Being Iron Man was dangerous work, I would hate for you to get hurt by it again.”

 

All in all, a shockingly nice conversation. When it was time for dinner, James stayed again, sitting between Lila and T’Challa, across from Tony, Cooper, and Laura, with a cranky Nate in T’Challa’s lap. It was nice, sitting there with his little family, just enjoying the day, ignoring all of the people Tony could still hear moving around on the other side of the house.

 

Everything felt kind of like home.

 

Until the roof collapsed.

  
  
  


TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally back! I'm so sorry. Hopefully, there won't be any more unplanned hiatus and I can continue my stories. But hey, I already have the next chapter for this written, and my other stories will be updated shortly.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

With speeds Tony didn’t even know he had, he pushes Cooper and Laura away from the table, and watches as T’Challa, with the aid of James, move the two youngest. Tony looks up at what was previously the ceiling, only to find a gaping hole in its place. Encircling the hole are agents clad in black, guns aimed at the group below.

 

No, Tony realizes, not at the group- at Nate, Lila, and Cooper.

 

Across the table T’Challa and James shift the children in their arms; they both curve their bodies around them as best they can, blocking them from view. The guns above them click as the safeties are turned off. “One more move and the children die.”

 

Ropes are tossed down into the hole, followed shortly by more and more agents. Within what can only be less than a minute dozens of agents are in the building.  They have the family pact tightly together now with their guns still aimed at the kids. Nate and Lila are crying loudly from their positions, terrified beyond belief at the guns being aimed at them by these bad men. Cooper is standing beside Tony and Laura. He stands tall and defiant as he stares down the agents closest to him. An agent speaks, “Asset.” Tony’s eyes rage at the name, “It was hard to find you, but it is good to see that your training benefitted you. At least for a little while. Even if you have been bad.” No reply of any kind comes forth. The man sighs and walks past the crowd. Unlike the others, this man is not wearing a black uniform; instead, a silk, fitting suit clings to his person. He is an older gentleman, maybe forties, but Tony can see the outlines of thick muscle beneath the suit. Tony knows to not underestimate this man in a fight. “I am hoping you are going to make this easy, Asset, and come willingly. Just come along and no one will get hurt.”

 

Before Tony has the chance to speak, Laura does, “No.” The near growl gives the man pause before he shifts closer to her, his eyes hard but curious.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“I said ‘no’. Tony will not be going with you.”

 

“I am afraid that is not really your choice Mrs. Barton- or is it Ms. Barton? No matter how this plays out, either he comes willingly or force is required, our Asset will be coming with us.” He glares at Laura, willing her into submission.

 

It, of course, does not work on Laura, as she only clenches her jaw and continues, “His name is Tony, not Asset. Tony is a child-  _ my child _ \- and he will  _ not  _ be going with you.”

 

The man raises an eyebrow, “Is that so? You consider an asset who has killed without thought a child?”

 

T’Challa says, “You forced him. Controlled him and hurt him to kill for you. He cannot be blamed for any of what was not his own control.”

 

“That is rich,” He stops in front of T’Challa, ignoring the terrified whimpers coming from Nate, “Coming from one of the men who left him for our taking.”

 

“Stop!” Tony roars. Clearly, the sound is unexpected; everyone but James and T’Challa jump. Even the agents surrounding them flinch.

 

Were it just themselves, the three enhanced can take them easy. But they’re not alone. Four people, whose lives mean more to them than air, are unprotected and highly vulnerable to bullets. For Tony, T’Challa, and James, first priority will always be protecting the most delicate of their strange family. To do that, Tony needs to get the agents’ focus off of Nate, Lila, and Cooper.

 

“Well, isn’t this a surprising turn of events?” The man smirks, “Does Asset want to tell his Handler what to do? Has your time away taken its toll?”

 

Tony shakes his head as he looks down at the floor. It has to look real- Tony’s act needs to be believable.

 

“What was that, Asset? Is there something you want to say?” Tony can feel his family’s eyes on him. He shakes his head. Minute shifting from beside his right shoulder clues Tony into the fact that James knows where he is going with this. James understands what is going on and is preparing himself; his body loosens into a better stance for defense. “Do not tell me there is another thing you must relearn. Speak up, Asset.”

 

“No, Sir,” The words feel sour on his lips.

 

He hates this.

 

“Tony? What?” Laura’s voice is a terrified whisper.

 

“Do not be alarmed, Mrs. Barton. It seems that Asset needed only a little guidance. He was lost, found by you. Creature of habit and all of that.” A large hand rests on Tony’s shoulder. “You know there is no way out of this, Asset. You are going to come home, forget about this poor excuse of a family you have found. Otherwise, they will be hurt and you will remain with us. Save them the trouble and come willingly.”

 

Bravely, Laura speaks, “We’re not going to let you take him.”

 

“And what is it that you’re going to do about it, Mrs. Barton?”

 

Speaking for his mother, Tony looks the man in the eye, “This.”

 

Simultaneously, thick stripes of sticky web grasp the two youngest kids and pull; a red, white, and blue disk boomerangs off of an agent’s head; arrows pierce four; repulsors impact with chests; and guns are fired. Unfortunately, guns are fired from both sides.

 

Chaos erupts all around, but Tony cannot find it in himself to focus on any of it; his eyes are trained on where Cooper has dropped to the floor clutching his stomach in a reflexive gesture. Blood quickly seeps from between his fingers, pooling heavily at the floor beneath him. Laura is kneeling beside him yelling, screaming as she holds her son’s bloody hands. T’Challa, who is now, somehow, wearing what Tony recognizes as the Black Panther suit and James, gun in hand, remain by their sides. Bullets are reigning from both sides but each is swiftly blocked by the two men.

 

A metal hand wraps around Tony’s neck and he is unceremoniously shoved onto the floor beside his mom and brother.

 

This is all too much- Tony hasn’t been in any sort of situation like this in a long time. Really, not since he was found by Laura. Not even the Avengers’ disruption on the farm was this frightening. Screams are echoing all around the room, all the more painful with his enhanced hearing, and through it, Tony can still hear Lila and Nate’s. They’re far away now, but he can hear the thumping of footsteps following after their screams. Tony can only hope it’s a friendly following them for safety.

 

“Tony!” Sharply, Tony is thrown back into the present. Laura’s red, tear-streaked face stares at him in naked horror as her son bleed out beneath her.

 

Shaking his head, Tony crawls over to his brother, ducking when a bullet comes too close to his head for his liking, and moves both Laura’s and Cooper’s hands out of the way. As he looks at the wounds- the shape and diameter- Tony feels dread curl deep within him somewhere. These aren’t normal bullet wounds. Those don’t create such damage. These wounds are large and jagged with metal clearly evident in them. These are specially made, specifically designed bullets. Bullets Tony is intimately familiar with.

 

These bullets are meant to take out a super soldier for a couple of  _ weeks. _

 

Tony can easily guess what they do to unprotected, un-enhanced humans.

 

Odd metallic clicking sounds from above them and Tony looks up with wet eyes to find Captain America’s shield held above them, carefully blocking all of the bullets with James’ flesh hand as the man continues to fire at the agents above them. T’Challa is crouching above them as well; his body is twisted oddly in his attempts to block his family from any bullets while also able to fight.

 

“Buck!” Rogers’ voice is clear above the noise. Tony focuses on it. “Get them out of here!”

 

James doesn’t need to be told twice. The moment there is a chance, T’Challa, and James, with T’Challa blocking them from the front, James in the back, quickly lead them out of the chaos. Cooper lies limp in Tony’s arms, his hands dangling towards the floor.

 

Only a handful of agents are left standing now, but as they get further down the hall, more and more begin pouring in. Dozens of them, all with the same weaponry as those in the dining room. There are too many of them to handle with Tony cradling his injured brother in his arms. In a flash, T’Challa’s fist has knocked down the door closest to them and Tony, Laura, and Nate are forced inside. “Protect your mom and brother,” T’Challa commands.

 

James and T’Challa, a dangerous combination, leap into the fray of shouting agents.

 

It’s a bedroom they were pushed into, Tony realizes. As the two other enhanced are keeping the agents busy outside in the hall, Laura, now focused solely on the task of keeping her sons safe, leads Tony to the bathroom door. She is no doubt looking for an escape. Any escape.

 

Neither of them expects the agents slipping in through the window. Nor the dart the pierces Laura’s chest.

 

Definitely not the device that latches onto Tony’s necks, dropping him to the floor with heavy convulsions as electricity flares through his body.

 

All of this happens with barely more than a thud as the three bodies connect with the floor.

 

Awake and numb, Tony can do nothing but watch in dread as agents approach Laura and Cooper. The two are tossed over shoulders and are through the window before Tony realizes that reinforced cuffs have been secured around his wrists and ankles.

 

“Sir,” The door is closed softly as an agent speaks quietly into his radio. “We have him and two others. Neither enhanced.” A pause. “Yes, sir. Estimated arrival time 2100.”

 

More cuffs are wrapped around his hand, preventing any mobilization of his fingers. Not that he can feel them at the moment, not with the electricity still coursing through him. An agent steps above him, carrying a thick blindfold. “Do not worry, Asset. We’ll take good care of your family.”

 

The blindfold is tied around his head and Tony sees nothing.

  
  
  
  


TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Also: I have read all of your comments and I appreciate every single one. I won't be able to reply to all of them, seeing as that would take FOREVER, but any questions you guys asked will actually be answered very soon. I promise. Thank you all so much!


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